Heaven, Hell, and Houseguests
by DragonSeer
Summary: WRITTEN WITH GRIZ!!! ^_^ "In a show of bad judgement, twin sisters invite seven young men to stay with them. But there's more to both parties than meets the eye..."
1. The Mall

Introducing: Heaven, Hell, and Houseguests. Written together by DragonSeer and Griz. Features all the SR1 vampires in their pretty forms (i.e.- as the nice-to-look-at lieutenants and Kain as a bit older version of BO2).

Ky and Tansy belong to DS and Griz, respectively. No touchy. Vamps belong to Eidos. Damn them! *DS shakes fist at sky impotently*

Griz adds that flaming will result in more suffering and pain than the seventh pit of Hell would cause you.

Babies screamed for attention, children whined for toys, teenagers asked for money. Sounds swelled around in an endless stream and people walked in their own worlds, concentrating on what they wanted and what they needed. Such was always the atmosphere of the mall, and such would it always be. People always knew what they needed, but wanted what they didn't. Such was always the case, and the two girls were no different.

"Come on," one pleaded, trying to head back to a Cutlery 'n More store, "I want to look at the new swords they have in." She was about five four, had short black hair to her chin with the bangs obviously dyed a vibrant purple, and stared longingly at the store with hazel, bordering on blue, eyes. She wore a silk sarong and matching halter-top, both in black silk with gold and red trimmings. The other girl of the pair tugged on her arm, keeping her away from her goal.

The other also had chin-length hair, but it was dyed a vibrant neon pink, and was dressed in pinstriped pants with rhinestones around the belt and down the seam on the outside. To compliment it, she was wearing a plain white button-down shirt and stood three inches shorter than the other girl, but her coffee-colored eyes were narrowed in effort.

"Come on, Ky," the brown-eyed girl growled. "You have enough swords. You don't need to buy more! Besides, I'm hungry and I want to go eat."

"But, but," Ky, short for Kyviana whimpered, looking at her prize slowly fading away. She sighed deeply and crossed her arms in a pout.

"You're so mean, Tansy."

"I know."

Tansy resumed tugging at Ky's arm and eventually managed to drag her to the food court. Upon arrival, she released her sister's arm and stared thoughtfully at every single sign every establishment in the food court had.

'So many choices, so little time . . .' Tansy thought, trying her best not to drool. She looked from one corner of the food court to the next before turning to Ky.

"Okay, Ky . . . do we go to Subway or the Creole place in the corner? Or what about the Chinese place over there, or the juice bar there, or—"

"JUST PICK ONE!!!" the hazel-eyed girl, who was not nearly as fussy about where they ate, yelled. Tansy waved a calm hand at her, expecting such a response from her more instinctual-driven sister. At the apparent dismissal, Ky stomped off to go get Chinese food. Tansy stared after her sister before heading over to the Creole place that had a sign over it that read "Bourbon Street" to order herself lunch. The line was a bit longer than she had expected, and when she got up to the register, she listed off what she wanted, then stared at the young man and asked, "Isn't Bourbon Street where all the hookers in New Orleans are at?"

The young man blinked at her in confusion and hastily got her order without answering her. She paid for it and left, chuckling and found Ky sitting at a table. Ky had heard her sister tormenting the poor man, but had concentrated on finding a table for them both and found something interesting to look at. Tansy had seen the rapt expression on her sister's face and sat down next to her.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Major eye-candy," Ky answered, nodding to the other end of the food court. Both sisters looked over to see six young men laughing and chatting easily with one another, dressed in black leather.

"Ky, stop checking out the male populous and eat."

"Oh," she sighed, but started munching on her chow mein. Both fell silent as they leaned over and sampled each other's orders. They were intimately used to each other's presence. It was during summer when they were sent to visit their grandparents, which ended up being three months of them entertaining themselves. Unbeknownst to their parents, the girls' grandparents were on a cruise, leaving the girls in charge of the house. Kyviana and Tansy were both eighteen and almost identical twins.

There was a sudden rumble and both girls turned instinctively toward the center of the food court as lighting crackled and part of the floor ripped up, sending tables and chairs flying. A large form jutted out of the ground, and a hulking creature pulled itself up. It landed on two back feet and stood vaguely like a dinosaur-human. It was green skinned, and horns protruded off the back of its skull. Small bat-like wings shot out of its back and it hissed angrily. The six men shifted in their seats slightly, eyeing it worriedly. A taller man with white-silver hair walked next to them and shook his head, indicating them to wait and see. The green-skinned demon whipped its head around, searching for something.

"Where are the twins?" it growled, tail lashing. Humans began screaming and running, throwing themselves up against corners to get away from the monstrosity. Only two people remained sitting; the two girls.

"Demon," Tansy sighed.

"Your turn?" Kyviana asked hopefully.

"You wish. I did it last time. Besides, it's been a few weeks. We were due for another attempt."

"Yup. All right, then, lemme at him." The black-haired woman stood slowly and walked out to the demon, oblivious to the chaos surrounding her. It pointed a claw at her.

"You will come with me."

"I do not think so, no," she retorted, her silk sarong beginning to ripple in a breeze that had no obvious source. Power rose through her veins and cruel balefire whipped across her arms. She reached behind her back and her hand closed on something invisible before she pulled around a sword that manifested suddenly. The silver blade hummed in the air eagerly. Ky began chanting words of power as the demon roared in protest and charged her. She waited until it looked like the thing would hit her, then gracefully jumped up, bringing the blade around, screaming, "DEMON-EATING STRIKE!" She felt the blade slam into the tough hide of the demon, a moment of resistance, then split through it like it was paper. She landed softly on the other side, her hand opening and the sword vanished. She stood, looking at the mess, closed her eyes a moment, and swung around her arm. Green fire raced across the area in a blast, righting chairs, fixing the hole, and people's eyes glazed over. They sat back down where they had been before and shook off the power, then continued their conversations and lunch as if nothing had interrupted. Ky sighed deeply and sat down across from Tansy to finish eating.

"Show-off," Tansy muttered.

"What?" Ky answered innocently. "At least I like to have fun. It's not my fault I'm the more social one."

"You are not!"

"Oh yes I am! Why do you think I get invited to more parties than you?"

"Now you're the one being mean," Tansy sighed.

"All in a good cause," was the response.

Tansy finished her food and got up to throw the leftovers away. She couldn't help noticing that all seven men seated at the other end of the food court were gazing intently at her and Ky. Resisting the urge to flip the young men the bird, she calmly dumped her tray into the trash can and walked back to the table she and Ky had been sitting at. She looked back over at the young men, who were still staring, and sighed.

"Take a picture, it lasts longer," she muttered darkly, sending annoyed glances to the other end of the food court. Ky let her eyes wander from the young men, to her sister, to her chow mien. She noticed the way they seemed to be staring at her twin and burst into laughter.

"Tansy, dear, if you didn't look like a 'Chicago' reject with pink hair, they wouldn't be staring at you!"

"Oh be quiet. They're staring at you, too, ya know!"

Ky was effectively silenced for the next few minutes. She finished her food and threw the leftovers away in silence, returned to her seat, and gestured to Tansy.

"Let's go," she muttered

"Why?"

"Because we've been here for hours!" With that, Ky grabbed Tansy's arm and dragged her out of the mall.

There was a long silence at the table as the strange girls left.

"All right, I'll be the first to ask," one of the younger men commented. "What the hell just happened?!"

The silver-white haired man pulled over a chair and sat down next to his unruly mob of children.

"It would seem," he stated, "that this world holds a secret."

"But all the signs indicated this world to be solely populated by humans only," a slightly older brother protested.

"I am aware of that, Rahab," the silver maned man snapped. "They most certainly aren't supposed to be here."

"So none of us have any idea what they are?" one of the older males inquired.

"So nice to know I'm not the only one unaware of what's going on," the first who had spoken mumbled to himself.

"Shut-up, Zephon!"

"Bite me, Dumah."

Dumah leaned forward and hissed, exposing fangs. "Only too happy to oblige."

"Dumah. Zephon." The white-haired man's voice was soft, but held a note of growing impatience with their antics. Both subsided, mumbling, "Yes, Lord Kain."

"So, my Lord, what shall we do with this information?" the second eldest inquired. Kain steepled his talons and thought.

"Zephon, Turel, get out there. Follow them if you can, and try to find out as much as you are able."

Both brothers, Turel being the second oldest and Zephon the second youngest, glared at each other, but nodded.

"Yes, my Lord."

Both brothers stood and quickly darted off after the girls.

"Raziel," Kain stated. The eldest of the brothers turned to look at his creator.

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Follow them. Keep at a distance and out of sight, but make sure those fools keep their mind on the job and not fighting one another. I also trust you to find things they miss."

"Yes, my Lord." Raziel stood in a graceful, cat-like movement and left to follow his younger brothers. Kain turned to the third youngest and the youngest.

"Rahab, Melchiah, go find us some form of accommodations on this god-forsaken rock."

The two vampires nodded and left quietly, and Kain turned to the more physically oriented third eldest.

"Dumah, you will be coming with me."

"Where will we be going, my Lord?"

Kain smirked malevolently. "To find dinner."


	2. Ky's Luck

Ten minutes later, Turel and Zephon stood outside of the mall, scanning the parking lot.

"So, which way did they go?" Zephon asked his older brother.

"Um . . . let's go . . . that way!" Turel stated, pointing straight ahead.

"Are you crazy!?" Zephon screeched. "We'd be walking into a mass of all of these horseless carriage . . . things!"

Turel sighed. "Fine, little brother, which way do you suggest we go?"

"Right!"

"Rahab, that green thing in the mall scared me," Melchiah whispered as he sought out a hotel with his older brother.

"It wasn't that bad, Mel," Rahab sighed. "You've seen worse in Nosgoth . . ."

"Yeah, but . . ."

"No buts about it! Now, do you suppose that the 'Rest E-Z Inn' has a place to stay?"

"My Lord," Dumah muttered, "How are we to find dinner when this place is teeming with humans? Most of them are in groups and will be missed!"

"A solution will present itself, Dumah . . ." Kain said coolly. 

Meanwhile, Turel and Zephon had managed to get themselves lost in a seedier section of town. Neither of them were certain how they got there, although when Turel saw how many bars lined the streets, he suspected that Zephon had chosen to go this way on purpose.

"Maybe they're in here!" Zephon chirped, walking into one of the bars. All of the windows in the bar were painted over with black. One neon sign in the window read "Topless Girls!"

"Oh shit!" Turel muttered, before taking a deep breath and flinging the door to the establishment open.

"ZEPHON!" he shrieked, bringing a silence to the room. His younger brother was seated at a table, surrounded by at least seven beautiful young women. And, as the sign in the window had promised, not one of them was wearing a top. He noticed that none of the other male patrons seemed to mind that Zephon was getting all of the attention from the strippers.

"Hey, bro," Zephon gushed, making a space for his brother, "Come join me!"

Turel looked from the other male patrons, who were obviously charmed, to his brother, to the women, and shrugged.

'What the hell?' he thought.

Dumah glanced up at a sign, the sign that meant the solution to the problem with dinner. The sign above the nondescript white building read, "Podunk County Blood Bank."

"My Lord!" Dumah called. "My Lord!" 

"What is it?" Kain groaned.

"A solution!" Dumah whooped, pointing to the sign. Kain looked up, and a smile momentarily brightened his features. 

"Brilliant, Dumah," he commended softly. "Let's go in."

"How much for six rooms again?" Rahab asked the blonde woman at the lobby of the Rest E-Z Inn. She couldn't have been older than twenty-five, and she had conveyed to Rahab through her speech and behavior that she was the typical ditzy prep.

"Well, like, how long are you gonna be staying?" was her response.

"I just told you that we don't know!" snapped the vampire, growing more impatient with the woman by the moment. "Just tell us the nightly rate and I'll be happy."

"Well, like, for one room, for one night, it's like, 70 dollars . . . now, what's 70 times six?"

"Four hundred twenty," muttered Rahab.

"Oh, right . . . so, four hundred and twenty bucks a night for an unspecified amount of time . . . man, you must be rich!"

"I don't think I can stay here, miss…"

"Did I mention the swimming pool?" The desk clerk was clearly trying to keep Rahab and Melchiah there.

Suddenly a rich, middle-aged woman stepped out from one of the elevators and stormed up to the desk.

"Excuse me," she fumed, "but in case you wanted to know, your coffee was cold, your food was beyond inedible, the room and the cutlery were filthy, and my sheets haven't been changed!"

"Well," replied the desk clerk, "we can show you the wide open spaces . . ."

"I have NO desire to see inside your head! I'm checking out right now and finding a different hotel!"

Rahab chuckled softly. "Come on, Melchiah, let's find someplace else, someplace more sanitary . . ."

"But, Rahab, they had a swimming pool!"

"If their rooms were filthy, I don't even want to THINK about the pool."

Tansy was hurrying past the Rest E-Z Inn as Rahab and Melchiah were walking out, and she managed to collide straight into them. Tansy was knocked to the ground.

"Hey, watch it . . ." she muttered, standing stiffly. Rahab, realizing she was one of the locals, decided to ask about lodging.

"Excuse me," he began, "but where can I find an inn? A nice, clean inn? With a swimming pool? Preferably one that isn't overpriced?"

"At the Holiday Inn down the street," Tansy answered. "Now, excuse me, I've got to get going . . . my grandparents are going to call their house any minute, and they'll panic if nobody's there!" With that, she hurried past them down the street and was lost in the throng of people passing her.

"Well, she was certainly one of the friendlier locals," Melchiah muttered.

"I think that pink hair dye and the rhinestones got to her head . . . wait, Mel, pink hair dye!? Rhinestones!?" Rahab had now officially entered a state of panic. "Mel, do you know what this means?"

"No, what?"

"It means," Rahab moaned, shaking his younger brother by the shoulders, "that we let one of those twins get away!"

"We're gonna be in deep trouble, huh?"

"Yeah, I would assume so. But let's not tell Kain we lost one until we get accommodations!"

"Hey," Melchiah murmured, "I wonder where Turel and Zephon are?"

Kyviana was running as fast as she could. It was nighttime. And she was running across the tops of buildings at full speed, apparently knowing the labyrinth of the rooftops intimately. It wasn't the first time she had taken the highway. She landed heavily on the top of the blood bank's white roof and kept running, intending to jump to the next roof when her danger sense went off. As it caught her off-guard, she tripped and went sliding across the roof to smash her face up against the small, foot-high wall around the edge of the roof.

"Ow," she hissed, sitting up slowly. She glanced over her body. Her silk, trusty cloth that it was, was in one piece, but her skin underneath it had shredded. She winced and looked around while she waited for it to heal.

A sudden strange scent filled her nose. It was the smell of a creature definitely not human, the exotic smell of a supernatural. She leaned over the building to see two of the men who had been at the mall that day standing in front of the door to the blood bank. Curiosity getting the best of her, Ky felt claws rip through the skin of her fingertips and climbed down the wall, head first. The white-haired man walked in, and the brawny black-haired male stepped in a moment after. Ky stopped at the top of the door so her head was hanging past the doorframe and she could see in. The inside waiting room was much like the one to be found in a hospital, and the elder male headed further in. The younger one stayed out at the door, acting as a guard of some kind, and turned back toward the door. Upon seeing Ky's head hanging down, he twitched slightly in shock, and she cocked her head to the side, giving him a strange expression.

"What in hell are you two doing here?" she inquired.

"My Lord?" the male called into the room. She heard movement and the silver-haired man stepped out where he could see her. One eyebrow rose, and Ky's head shifted to the other side as she looked at him.

"Intro of the head honcho, apparently," she commented blandly. She flipped off the wall and dropped into the doorway, blinking at the two men.

"Well, well, well," Kain chuckled dryly, "if it isn't the demon killer from earlier this day."

Ky's eyes widened and she took a step back in surprise.

"My spell didn't work on you . . ." she breathed.

"No it didn't." Kain stepped passed Dumah and Ky retreated, keeping a good five feet between them both. Dumah followed his lord and moved a good few paces away, creating a half-circle blocking her exit one way. She winced at the predicament she found herself in and took a step backward. She twisted abruptly when she heard light feet smack across the ground and a voice cry, "My Lord!" Behind her stopped one of the brothers, and she recognized the eldest of them.

"Ah, Raziel, please keep this one from escaping toward you, if you would," Kain stated with a cruel smirk. He nodded and fixed golden eyes on her intently. Ky turned and noted silently that the other brother had the same colored eyes. Ky's fingers twitched against the urge to draw out her sword. Dumah noted her gesture and smirked.

"Ah, where is that particular blade of yours, girl-child?"

Ky felt her lips pull back as she fought to not snarl.

"I don't believe I've had the pleasure of finding out your names. I know the immovable wall behind me is Raziel, but who are the walls in front of me?"

Kain's eyes narrowed at the impudent wench's insult, but his face remained blank. Dumah, however, pulled around a blade and pointed its edge toward her.

"You will not speak to our Lord Kain in such a manner."

Ky let her snarl show. "I will speak to anyone however I feel necessary, even if I have to hurt your little baby feelings—"

In a rage, Dumah waited no longer for her to finish her sentence and swiftly flipped the blade about to strike out at her. Faster than a human could ever have moved, Ky pulled back and a longsword made entirely of silver metal appeared in her hand. By sheer instinct, she brought it up, slamming the blade away from her face. Dumah recovered nearly instantly, but an appraising expression was on his face, and he slowly started moving in a circle. She kept her blade to the male, knowing that it was the eldest who was the real threat, but she just couldn't turn down a good fight.

The male quickly spiraled in, sword ripping through the air in a shrieking slash that Ky nimbly dodged out of the way and shot around into his guard. Dumah smirked and easily blocked, pushing her back away from him. Ky watched his motions for a moment, then moved in to exchange slashes again.

'He's incredible,' she thought to herself in awe as most of her attacks were easily rebounded. Each thrust given in turn was beginning to press on her muscles, and she could feel them at the verge of giving out. And yet he still pressed on like a machine.

Ky finally pulled away, chest heaving as her lungs tried to draw in a breath, and Dumah's sword got a lucky strike in, slashing across her upper arm, leaving a thick cut across the skin. Ky hissed as onyx black blood spilled out of the wound, ruby droplets shinning in it. She opened her hand, the silver blade vanishing, and weighed her options.

"It seems like it's time . . ." she hesitated as she curled her fingers slightly so they couldn't see talons breaking through the skin, "to make a strategic retreat!" She twisted, slammed her claws into the wall, and quickly scurried her way up to the roof. She glanced at her watch and saw it read 10:42.

'Shit!' she swore to herself. 'Grandparents call at 10:45! And I'm a good seven, eight minute run from here!'

Shoving the incident of the fight to the back of her mind, she took off racing across the roofs as fast as she could force her body to move, adrenaline fueling her sore muscles. On the ground, Dumah stared after where she had disappeared.

"She's got quite a bit of potential, that one does," he stated to himself more than to anyone else.

In the meantime, Ky finally got home and dropped in one of the windows to hear Tansy talking, "Yes, Grandma, she's on her way home now. No, she didn't get mugged or raped. How do I know? I'm her twin sister— Oh, here she is now!"

Ky took the phone and mouthed to her sister, "Thank you." As she answered her grandmother's questions, Tansy poked at the wounded spot on Ky's arm. Ky winced and waved her away, ignoring Tansy's silent inquires as to what happened. When she realized she wasn't going to get an answer, Tansy sighed and started cleaning the wound so it would heal quickly. Ky finally got off the phone and sighed deeply, looking over at Tansy's progress on her arm. The skin had closed and already the wound didn't show up on her pale skin as strongly as it did before. By the time she got to work, it'd be completely gone.

"Thanks, sis. I need to get out of here. It's almost time for my shift."

"Why do you work at that place?" Tansy demanded. "You know Mom and Dad would go ballistic if they knew."

"That's exactly why I wanted to work there. Besides, if I'm going to learn how to dance, I might as well put it to some use."

Tansy sighed deeply, but Ky was already going up the stairs to get her work clothes. She hopped back down the stairs and quickly headed out the door. Tansy shook her head as her sister raced out.

"Well, I guess I'll just stay here and . . . dust something . . ." she stated to the falling silence. She quickly grabbed her feather duster, her trusty Walkman, popped it in her ears, and started listening to T.A.T.U.


	3. Houseguests

            Ky quickly headed down to the quieter and lonelier part of town. Others without her mindset would call it the seedier part of town, and Ky knew her sister hated it. Which was exactly the reason she loved it. She worked as an exotic dancer in one of the strip clubs. Most people shied away from such work, but Ky adored it. It gave her the rush of exotic pleasure and sinful delight that she longed for. She did keep some morals, though. She was most definitely _not_ a hooker. She was a creature to look at and not touch.

            She quickly went around one of the buildings, named "Sinful Succubus," and headed in the back way. She didn't need to change just yet, and her shift for the night was a waitress. They usually had enough dancers on Saturday night they didn't need her, and the boss liked to keep Ky's performances to a minimum, as she was the most exotic of his pets and men flocked from three or four nearby cities on her nights. That bothered her; she didn't like the fame. She just found it fun to tease men.

            Upon walking into the club, she knew something wasn't right. She headed into the main room to see all seven of the strippers were focusing on two men, and the rest of the male patrons were staring off into the distance, a happy smile on their faces. Ky moved around to see the two men and noticed they reminded her of the boys she had seen at the mall, but they looked different. Both were clothed in normal black, form fitting denim jeans and typical polyester shirts that stretched tight across both men's chests. They both had long black hair that was let free, and several of the girls were running their hands through it. One of the girls glanced up and spotted Ky's scowl, and hastily alerted the others. They quickly moved away and returned to attending the other customers, and both men shook their heads as if coming back to their senses.

            "Look what you've done, Zephon!" the elder one shouted.

            "Me? You're the one who agreed."

            "Now," he turned furiously, "we'll never find— Ah!" He stopped mid-sentence, seeing Ky standing behind him. She looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

            "Find what?" she inquired curiously.

            "Ah, my brothers," Turel stuttered out.

            "Mm-hmm," she responded, smiling knowingly. "You boys look like you're from out of town."

            "Oh, we are," the one called Zephon piped up helpfully. The eldest looked at him sharply, then extended a hand to Ky.

            "Turel. This is my younger brother, Zephon."

            "Kyviana," she replied with a smile. "Now, what the heck are you two doing in a bar?"

            "Actually, we were looking for our brothers, but we . . ." Turel fell silent, looking for the right word.

            "Got distracted?" Ky supplied, smirking.

            "If you'd like," he responded, nodding simply. "Not only that, but a few of our brothers went out looking for someplace to stay."

            "Hm." Ky fell silent for a while, thinking. "Well, lemme finish my shift, and we'll see what I can help you with, all right?"

            She quickly darted off and went through her normal shift, and when she wasn't actually doing anything, she sat at the table Turel and Zephon were at and spoke with them. She managed to wheedle out of them that they were the second oldest and second youngest of six brothers, and their father was out in the night with them. After about an hour and a half, the boss came out and dismissed her.

            "There just really aren't that many people tonight," he stated simply with an apologetic shrug. "So you might as well go home. I'll see you in a couple of nights."

            "All right."

            She went into the back and changed, then came back out and grabbed a chair next to the two brothers.

            "Well, tell you what. Our house is big enough to fit seven men in it, so why don't you come home with me? You can find the rest of your family and bring them back with you and stay there for at least a little bit."

            The two exchanged a triumphant look and Zephon turned back to her, stating, "That would be wonderful."

            "All right." Ky nodded. "Then come with me. It's a slight walk back to my house, but nothing major."

            Both men stood and followed their pseudo hostess out into the night and down the noisy streets. The continued walking a good twenty minutes or so, but finally came to a quieter part of town and headed up to a large house that looked more like a mansion than anything. She stopped at the door and turned to Turel and Zephon.

            "Okay, the only house rules: clean up any mess you make, otherwise you get pounced on by my sister, and stay out of the third floor. That's our floor. There are a total of twelve guest bedrooms on the first and second floor, so take your pick."

            She opened the door and headed in, looking around for Tansy. Both men followed her quietly as she moved through the dinning room, then the family room, and finally went into the den to see her pink-haired sister dusting furiously, singing softly to T.A.T.U.'s "Stars." Ky tapped her lightly on the shoulder and Tansy let out a little shriek of surprise, flipped around, and bonked Ky across the head with the feather duster. Ky pulled back, rubbing her head.

            "Hey, hey, hey! It's only me!"

            "Oh, sorry, Ky!" Tansy pulled the earphones out of her ears and stopped the tape player. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

            "I didn't sneak up on you—" Ky fell silent as Tansy looked behind her at the two men standing quietly in the doorway. Ky waved back at the two.

            "Tansy, meet Turel, the eldest of the two, and Zephon."

            Tansy turned on Ky, and the taller sister recognized the furious look in her Chicago-nuts sister. Ky took a step backward.

            "Ky, you brought home boys?! When we're home alone?!" Tansy screeched. "Oh, you better hope Grandma doesn't call again!"

            "Oh, but they're cute, Tansy."

            Turel and Zephon exchanged a look in the background, deciding to stay out of the sisters' argument.

            "But Ky!! They might turn out to be Jack the Ripper psychos or something!"

            Ky sighed. "No, I met a couple of Jack the Ripper psychos this evening, and these are not them."

            Tansy glared at her taller sister, then sighed deeply.

            "All right, fine! They can stay. But they'd better not deviate from the house rules."

            Ky nodded and indicated the room. "I'll let you get back to dusting now."

            "Thank you," Tansy sighed as Ky took both men out of the room. After they got out into the family room, Turel turned to Ky.

            "If you'll excuse us, but now that we know where you are, we need to go find our family."

            "Go all head and take care. Wouldn't do any good for you two to be mugged after finally getting here."

            Turel headed for the door and Zephon grinned down at her malevolently as he stated, "I would pity any fool who tried to mug us."

            He followed Turel and Ky shivered after they had left the house. She paused for the first time to wonder what exactly she had gotten her sister and herself into.

            Turel and Zephon spotted Rahab and Melchiah sitting on a park bench a few blocks away. Both of them looked exceptionally glum.

            "What's wrong?" Turel asked, not used to seeing bubbly Rahab look so . . . depressed.

            "Kain is going to kill us!" Rahab moaned, looking up at his older brother. Then he clutched his head and refused to look at anyone.

            "Why?" Turel inquired.

            "We let one of the twins get away," Melchiah groaned. Zephon burst out into laughter.

            "I don't see what's so funny!" Rahab snapped.  

            "I do!" Zephon laughed. "You see, we've met one. And she is letting us stay with them!"

            "Oh good, I get to live for another five minutes . . . wait, what did you say?" There was a look of newfound hope in Rahab's eyes.

            "We'll tell you while we look for Kain, Dumah, and Raziel . . ." Turel muttered.

            The group found Kain and the last two brothers outside the blood bank. Rahab was still wringing his hands in worry.

            "Did you find them?" Kain asked Turel upon seeing him.            

            "We got . . . distracted, my Lord. But we did find them!"

            "Distracted? How so?"

            "You found them!" Rahab gasped. He was ignored, but he did calm down.

            "They were in a strip club, my Lord," Raziel laughed.     

            "Yes, but the demon-slaying twin is employed there!" Zephon said hurriedly, trying to act as if he knew all along what he was doing.

            "Did you know that she worked there?" Kain asked, amused.

            "N— er, yes!" Zephon lied.

            "We found lodging, too!" Turel said happily. "The demon-slaying twin invited us all to stay at her place!"

            "Let's go then!" Dumah stated with a malicious smirk. "I've got a score to settle with her . . ."

            Tansy had changed tapes in her Walkman and was now happily singing along with 'Les Miserables'.

            "Tans, I'm so sick of hearing that song," Ky complained. Tansy turned around and glared icily at her twin before singing 'Lovely Ladies' even louder.

            "Old men, young men, take 'em as they come! Harbor rats and alley cats and ev'ry kinda scum!"

            "We're back!" Turel announced as he opened the door. "Um . . . why is your sister singing a song about whores?"

            "She's insane! Where's your family?"

            "Here." Ky recognized the voice at once and turned sharply around. Dumah stood behind her, smirking. Next to him were Kain and Raziel. Still standing in the doorway were Rahab and Melchiah, who seemed uncertain that they wanted to stay with a crazy girl who sang prostitute songs.

            "Oh, Tansy," Ky said, lifting up the earphone on Tansy's right ear, "that guy there with the weird up-do, and the guy with the white hair . . . those are the psycho Jack the Ripper people." Tansy looked from Dumah to Kain, to her sister, shut off her music, and leapt at Dumah with her feather duster.

            "Die!" she screeched, whacking him on the head again and again. Dumah calmly took her by the wrist.

            "Calm yourself, woman! I haven't any desire to hurt YOU."

            "You're not gonna hurt my sister either!" Tansy spat.

            "Dumah, let her go," the white-haired man softly ordered. Dumah did as he was told, sending Kain a look that begged Kain to let him kill her.

            Tansy glared around at the assortment of young men in her kitchen.

            "All right," she growled. "Line up, all of you. It's house rule lecture time."

            "But your sister already told us the rules," Zephon said, "So can we—"

            "NO! She . . . uh, forgot a few rules. _(A/N: Ky (DragonSeer): Excuse me?! I did not! .)_ Now line up, all of you!"

            "She scares me," Melchiah whimpered to Rahab. Rahab nodded, but said that they'd better listen to her anyway. Tansy didn't start speaking until they had all lined themselves up against the nearest wall. Both sisters got the feeling they did it more to amuse themselves than to comply with Tansy's orders.

            "All right, first of all, clean up your messes lest you face my wrath. Nextly, my room is off-limits, as is my body. In fact, don't even let me catch you LOOKING at my chest."

            "Well, darn . . ." muttered one of the brothers.

            "Who said that!?" When no one admitted that he had said it, Tansy continued on. "Stay off of the third floor. Oh, and no late-night porno movies either!"

            Melchiah raised his hand.

            "Yes?" 

            "Um . . . Miss Scary Lady . . . what's a porno movie?"

            Ky stared at Melchiah in amazement, and Tansy nearly fainted.

            "I'll tell you when you're older," she said after an awkward silence, and then she looked around at them all again. "I work at a dinner theatre," she continued, "so I will be gone from nine o'clock in the morning until ten o'clock in the evening on weekdays to rehearse. Sometimes our director will keep us until midnight or later. Furthermore, on show nights I will be gone for at least five hours that night, depending on which show we're doing. This week we're doing 'Cats' so I'll be gone longer because that make-up is a pain to apply and remove."

            "Jeeze Tansy," Ky stated, looking at her sibling, "tell us your whole life story, why don't you?"

            "And," Rahab interrupted, aiming his query at Tansy, "why are you telling us this?"

            "So you know where I am if you need help with anything."

            Ky leaned around Tansy so the boys could see her and her sister couldn't, and waved her finger around her ear in a circular motion before pointing at Tansy. It was the universal 'she's nuts' sign, and Rahab smirked at seeing Ky pointing to her sister.

            Abruptly, Dumah stepped forward toward her and the taller girl stepped back slightly as he smiled malevolently down at her.

            "Speaking of you, my dear little demon-slayer, we have a score to settle, you and I."

            Ky's eyes widened as she stared up at him, and Tansy looked over at her with a 'what have you done now?!' expression. Dumah reached down and swiftly pulled the blade from the scabbard which hung at his side. The muscles under his skin rippled smoothly as his arm moved.

            "Nik," Ky let out a strangled noise. Deciding it would not be a good idea to spar next to her perfectionistic sister, Ky turned and raced into the depths of the house. Not missing a beat, Dumah ran after her. Tansy sighed and went back to dusting, and Kain shook his head in amusement before indicating for Turel and Raziel to sit with him at the kitchen table. Turel leaned over and told Melchiah and Rahab where the guestrooms were so they could go make themselves comfortable. That left only Zephon, who was watching Tansy dust. Tansy noticed the vampire out of the corner of her eye and turned on him.

            "Well?" she demanded. "If you're going to watch me, the least you could do is make yourself useful."

            "What would you have me do?" he inquired sardonically. "Fold laundry?"

            "Now that you mention it . . ."

            "No!" The vampire lord crossed his arms over his chest. "That's women's work! I will not do it."

            "Women's work?" Tansy repeated dangerously quietly. Ten seconds, five whacks on the head with the feather duster, and several "OW!"s later, Zephon was slowly folding laundry, shooting glares at Tansy as she passed by, dusting. Zephon picked out a piece of cloth, which happened to be Tansy's bodyliner for her dance costume, and inquired, "What is this thing, and why does this thing have a thong in the back?"

            "PUT THAT DOWN!" Tansy cried at him, smacking his claws once with the feather duster. "And to answer your question, it's to keep my . . . er, chest from bouncing around when I dance."

            Suddenly, Ky's laughter rang out from the depths of the house as she called out, "You tell them not to look at your chest, and yet you keep saying things that practically beg them to!"

            Tansy glared at the back of the house as silence fell, which was broken by Ky after a moment more, sounding much closer as she said, "Oh, I forgot! You're saving yourself for you precious Israfel!"

            Tansy abruptly dropped her feather duster and stormed toward the back of the house. Ky's voice rang out.

            "Hey, what are— I was only kidding—"

            A female voice let out a scream, and Dumah returned with an amused smirk on his face, as the sounds of a fight rang out in the back of the house. After a few minutes, the sounds stopped and both Ky and Tansy returned, Tansy limping and Ky rubbing her shoulder. A bruise was rapidly appearing on the pale skin.

            "Man, everyone is picking on this shoulder tonight," she groaned, looking at it. It was the same shoulder Dumah had sliced open earlier that night.

            "Serves you right," Tansy shot back.

            "It's not my fault you have a thing for the angel of music!" Ky protested.

            "It's not my fault that he's gorgeous with a nice baritone voice to boot!"

            "Ah, you love him for his songs and his wings only," Ky retorted as she sat down on the couch in the den next to Zephon.

            "Well, okay, he's awfully sweet too . . ."

            Kyviana blinked at her sister in incredulity. "Next thing you know, you'll be telling me you want to get married to him and live in a nice little house in heaven with a white picket fence."

            "Hm, that's a good idea. Do ya think God'll let me live up there with him?"

            Ky abruptly slammed face first into the carpet in a face-fault, then stared up at her sister with dead shock on her face. "You actually _want_ to live in that light-y tidy, goody-two-shoes place?! Come on, Tans, you're more evil than **I** am! Do you really think they'll let you live up there?"

            "Well, sure, I haven't been TRULY horrible . . ."

            Ky blinked at Tansy and reclaimed her seat next to the second youngest. "Oh, not TRULY. There was just that last summer, and the winter before that where you decided you want to see if certain . . . things could fly—"

            "I was curious!" Tansy interrupted. "And stoned!"

            "SEE?! Good girls don't get stoned! Even I don't!" Ky paused. "And you were _so_ not stoned."

            "Nope, I was . . . BAKED!"

            Ky gave her sister a steely glare. "You weren't baked, either. At the time you weren't high in the slightest . . . Oh, wait. Was that the day that we went to the concert where we saw those guys play for the first time?"

            "Yup!"

            "Oh . . . Yeah, you were stoned that day. I forgot."

            Tansy smiled at her sister in a smug 'I-told-ya-so' kind of way. Zephon, who still clutched the bodyliner, tugged on the pink-haired girl's sleeve. "You still haven't told me what the thong part's for."

            "That's because it's none of your business."

            "Oh, please, please tell me!" pleaded Zephon.

            "No!"

            "Fine," Zephon muttered. "But I'll ask you every day for the rest of your life if you don't tell me now."

            Tansy narrowed one eye at the vampire and scowled.

            "I mean it!" Zephon said, narrowing both of his eyes.

            "It's . . . an undergarment."

            "Ah, thank you, Ms. Obvious," Zephon chuckled. "But why does it have a thong?"

            Tansy, realizing that it was pointless arguing with the young man, grabbed him by the shirt collar, put her face quite close to his, and spoke to him in a low, threatening voice. "Because when I dance," she growled, "my costume is a skintight bodysuit . . . and it's quite unattractive when your normal underwear bunches up and you get a wedgie! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!"

            Ky began to laugh. "Well, Tans, you asked for it when you didn't tell him to begin with!"

            "You're cute when you're pissed off, did you know?" Zephon complimented, smirking.

            "You had so better be talking about my sister. If you are, I completely endorse the comment." Ky sent an evil smirk Tansy's way. Tansy looked absolutely livid.

            "Ky! _Knock-it-off!"_

            "'Sides," Ky stage-whispered to Zephon, "maybe if she got a good lay she wouldn't be so uptight all the time . . ."

            Tansy reached for a broom that leaned against the wall and swung it at Ky.

            "You see? You see what I have to put up with?" Ky called, dodging the broom.  Tansy simply shrieked, walked back to the kitchen, and began sweeping the floor.

            "Are you just going to take that?" Dumah asked casually.

            "Of course! As obnoxious as she is, she is my sister."


	4. Set Up

(A/N: DS is being lazy and not updating quickly…. Lalalalalalaa…… *sweatdrop*

                     Why are you all walking toward me with lances and swords?)

            Rahab leaned back lazily in his seat, laughing softly at Tansy's antics. "I don't believe," he said quietly, "that we've properly introduced ourselves to you ladies. My name is Rahab. Mister Thong there," he pointed a claw at Zephon, "is Zephon."

            "So who's the bully with the up-do?" Ky asked, earning herself a death glare from Dumah.

            "Bite me," Ky snarled at the aforementioned glarer. Dumah bared his fangs.

            "Only too happy to oblige."

            "He's called Dumah… um…" Rahab looked worried by the growing tension between Dumah and Ky. "The little bald one is named Melchiah, the man with white hair is our father, Kain, the gentleman with his hair falling into his eyes is Raziel, and that one there," he gestured toward Turel, who was examining the phone book, "is Turel."

"Why's he looking at the phone book?"

"You humans keep a record of where each of you lives… and your 'phone numbers,' whatever those are?" Turel was amazed. "So you could easily locate someone?"

            "That's the idea," Ky affirmed.

            "Are you in the phone book?" he asked.

            "Not in this one," Tansy said softly.       

            "Well, why not?" 

            "Unlisted!" Ky said quickly.

            Twenty minutes later, Tansy had introduced herself to the vampires, Ky had properly introduced herself to the men, and Tansy was insisting that it was high time they all got to bed.

            "Alone?" Zephon joked.

            "Alone." Tansy was dead serious.

            "Ah, fine. But don't you come running to me at the crack of dawn, 'cause I already offered, hun!"

            Ky blinked at him. "You are just asking to get smacked across the face, you know that?"

            "No more than you," he answered smugly. Ky looked at her sister's face, saw her twitching eye, and grabbed Tansy's arm.

            "Well, we'll just be heading up to our rooms, so good night. As I said to Turel and Zephon, there are twelve guest bedrooms on the first and second floor all together. Take your pick."

            Ky dragged her sister away from the men and upstairs. They heard the third floor door slam shut. Ky sighed deeply and leaned against the door, looking at her sister. She breathed in deeply and Tansy looked at her.

            "Ky, just what have you gotten us into?"

            "I have no idea." 

            Tansy turned on her heel and began straightening the curtains that covered the nearby window. Ky suggested she go out with Zephon, and Tansy whipped around to face her sister.

            "What… did… you… say?"

            "After all, Tans," Ky went on, deliberately ignoring her sister's question, "I haven't seen you get that angry at anyone but me and that one guy you went out with a while back."

            "What one guy was that?"

            "Oh, the cute one you hung out with all the time… Mm, I think his name was Adrian, wasn't it?"

            "Oh," Tansy muttered, as a look of deep loathing crossed her face. "That dirty S.O.B."

            "Eh? I thought you liked him?" 

            "Not anymore…"

                "Ah," Ky stated in surprised acceptance. "Yeah, but the point is, you two met in a fight, and you were always in the middle of one with him. You both seemed to thrive on it."

            "He dumped me on Valentine's Day!" Tansy snapped. "_VALENTINE'S FREAKIN' DAY! _You just don't do that, it's not nice…"

            Ky sighed. "No, it's not. Sorry I brought it up." She didn't say anything for a moment, and then she smiled mischievously. "…You should still go out with Zephon!"

            "What?" Tansy had gone back to straightening curtains and hadn't been paying full attention. Then she caught on. "No! Keyword is no!"

            "I'm not absolutely telling you to," Ky commented. "I'm just suggesting you do."

            "But Ky, Issy's so much nicer!"

            Ky sighed again and rolled her eyes. "Tans, I hate to break it to you, but you're a _Nephilim_! You're downright evil!" Tansy opened her mouth to say something, but Ky cut her off, continuing with, "Even more so than I am! Do you really think that relationship's going to work?"

            "Well, sure!" chirped Tansy. "Look at Romeo and Juliet! Their relationship worked out fine until Romeo bumped off Tybalt!"

            "But the point of that story was the love was doomed from the beginning. Romeo even basically says it when he talks about the stars being an ill omen. He just doesn't know what yet. That's why Romeo and Juliet was one of the greatest love stories. Because everyone else knew it was doomed the moment it started."

            "Good point…" Tansy said slowly, almost reluctantly. "However…"

            "However what, Tansy?"

            "I'm not Juliet, and Issy's not Romeo!" Tansy crowed, before sauntering into her room. She stuck her head out of her bedroom door and made a face at Ky before retreating into what she called her 'cave.'

            "No," Ky muttered sadly after Tansy had retreated. "You're Orpheus and Eurydice…"

            Tansy flopped down onto her bed, reached under her pillow and pulled out her diary. 

            "I see Ky's been reading you again…" she said out loud to the book. "It's a shame I haven't written in you in over a month, now, isn't it?" Laughing (Tansy found it amusing that she was talking to a book like she expected it to answer), she reached for a green ink pen she kept on her nightstand and began to write.

            _"Dear Diary,_

_            I have got to find a better hiding place for you, as on my nightstand is a bit obvious. And Ky can't even bother to put you back where she found you. _

_            Speaking of Ky, she's reached some new extremes, even for her! Remember how I told you she started working at that strip club? Well, she met two guys there and brought them home! Didn't occur to her they could be axe-murderers or anything, she just brought them in! And then… THEN she let them stay with us, AND she let them go find their family (they have four brothers and their father with them), AND she's letting them all stay with us! I'll admit it makes things much less dull around here… although I swear that if that rat Zephon comes anywhere near me, I'll maim him!_

            _Even if he is kinda cute…. in a perverted old man way._

_            And Zephon's brother Dumah! He's our generation's Jack the Ripper, I swear! I get the feeling he'd be ceaselessly attacking Ky if he could! I'll just have to keep him busy with household chores…_

_            I personally think they're all murdering madmen… What has Ky gotten us into this time?"_

            "You always think I'm getting us into things, Tansy!" sighed Ky's voice from the doorway. Tansy turned and glared at her twin, realizing that she must have said the last sentence aloud. "You just don't trust me," Ky went on, in a tone of mock sorrow.

            "Of course I don't!" Tansy retorted.

            "Hey!" Ky muttered, and then she feigned sniffling, "I'm unloved!"

            "Not unloved," Tansy corrected. "Just… not trusted." 

            "Same thing! Hey, what are you writing?" 

            "Light cues!" Tansy said hurriedly, snapping her diary shut. "For the guy in the light booth! So he knows when to change the lights!"

             "Oh really?" Ky asked, with an eyebrow raised. 

            "Really!"

            "Hm… I'll bet. You just wait until you go out for practice!" 

            "On Monday!" 

            "Which is two days from now," Ky chirped. "And you're doing your show this weekend…" 

            "Yeah, and?" Tansy's irritation was rising by the second. 

            "Oh, nothing! I'll just skip off to bed now…"

            Tansy shut her door behind Ky and looked around for a new place to hide her diary. She noticed the dust jacket of a Harry Potter novel lying on her bureau. It was the dust jacket for the first novel in the series, and it was just about the right size to cover her diary.

            "Bingo!" she whispered. Tansy stealthily slipped the dust jacket onto her diary and headed back downstairs to hide it in a bookcase. She was confident that Ky wouldn't suspect a thing… and that the brothers and their father had much better things to do than read 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.'

Tansy had managed to hide the diary without incident, and she was positive that she could get back to her room without meeting anyone, as the halls were silent, and it seemed as though everyone had gone to bed. She half tiptoed, half ran back toward her room (silently thanking her mother for forcing her to take ballet with every step) until she ran into someone.

            "Ouch…" Rahab's voice muttered. "That's the second time today we've had a collision, Miss Tansy!" 

            "What are you doing up?" Tansy half-whispered, half-snapped. 

            "I was about to ask you the same thing!"

            "You tell me first, Rahab!" 

            "Well, I was using the facilities," Rahab said calmly. "Now you tell me what you were doing up. And downstairs. Your commodes on your floor are working, aren't they?"

            "I was putting a book back on the shelf… I just finished it." It was half-true; she had just shelved a book. 

            "Oh, really? Which one?" 

            "The Hunchback of Notre Dame!" 

            "Sounds interesting," Rahab murmured thoughtfully. 

            "Oh, it's very good!" Tansy informed him. "Now, uh… I really need to get to sleep, Rahab. Excuse me."

            "Of course!" Rahab smiled, moving aside so Tansy could walk past him. "Pleasant dreams, Miss Tansy." 

            "You too," Tansy said. 

            She already liked Rahab a lot better than she liked Zephon. Tansy quickly headed into her bedroom, and Ky peeked around a corner and snickered maliciously.

            'Fine then,' she thought to herself. 'No Zephon, but you seemed to like Rahab just fine, Tans.'

            She waited until silence fell, then headed down the stairs noiselessly. It was time she learned a bit more about this 'Rahab' and found out what he liked so she could set her sister up with him. She hopped down stairs, then paused and smirked. She abruptly rolled in a tight ball past an open door and raced into an open doorway, then glanced out in the hall. All the while, she had begun singing the "Mission: Impossible" theme. She darted down the hall toward the first floor stairs, then sidled along the wall downstairs. She rolled through the main room and landed on her chest and stomach in the hall.

            Suddenly, the lights flicked on above her. She looked up to see the eldest brother, Raziel, who was blinking down at her curiously.

            "What are you doing?" he demanded.

            "I'm living in my own world," she retorted. "Lemme lone."

            He simply looked down at her with a raised eyebrow. Ky, feeling silly, stood up and brushed herself off.

            "Actually, I was trying to get info on one of your brothers to try and hook my sister up with him."

            Something shifted in his eyes, and she recognized the emotion there: amusement. He crossed his arms over his chest.

            "And which brother of mine are you plotting on tormenting?"

            "Well, right now?" she asked curiously. "I wasn't so much plotting on tormenting one. I just wanted to get more information on one."

            He smirked slightly as he inquired, "Which one?"

            She paused, eyeing him quietly, wondering if she should divulge her information or not, then decided with that malevolent smirk he was giving her, she might get his help.

            "Rahab."

            He looked genuinely surprised a moment, then glanced away and laid a finger against his face as he thought. The smirk had disappeared, but it quickly reappeared and spread into a malicious smile. Ky recognized that smile; it was the same smile she would have given someone had they suggested hooking her own sister up with someone.

            "You're going to help me, aren't you?"

            "Oh yes."

            He led her back into the kitchen and the two sat down at the table.

            "Hm… Rahab. Now he's one of our more… pleasant brothers. He's quite a little bookworm, but he has a tendency of avoiding the sunlight. All vampires are hurt by strong rays, but Rahab's even more so—"

            "Woah, woah, woah," Ky interrupted. "You're vampires?"

            He blinked at her a moment, then nodded as if it was an obvious secret she should have gotten a long time ago. Ky's eyes widened at him and an amused smile crept over his lips. A second later, one of her eyes started twitching before she let her head fall to hit the table with a muffled thump.

            "Oh, Tansy's going to _kill_ me when she finds out this little piece of information."

            Raziel steepled his fingers as he looked down at her. "Are you going to back out of this?"

            "Ah hell no." She sat back up in the chair again. "If she's going to kill me, I might as well have a little fun before I die."

            "Why will she kill you because of us being vampires?"

            "Oh, yeah, well, she's unhappy enough with me as it is for opening up the house to you boys. But if she finds out your vampires… Her house rule on that topic is 'No supernatural creatures _at all_, ESPECIALLY demons and angels. Only Daddy and Issy'."

            "Who is this 'Issy' your sister keeps referring to?"

            "Oh, Issy is her nickname for Israfel. He's an angel of music she's got a crush on."

            One fine eyebrow crooked upward as Raziel clarified, "So, he's a mortal human with the voice of an angel?"

            "Oh no," she responded calmly, waving a dismissing hand at the notion. "He's actually an angel. He's one of the main angels who checks up on us every so often."

            "Ah-ha," he murmured, not sure whether to believe the woman or not. He abruptly shook his head.

            "Back to the discussion about fixing your sister and my brother up…"

            "Ah yes." Ky grinned and leaned toward him as they whispered between each other conspiratorially.

            From outside the kitchen, leaning calmly against the wall near the doorway, Rahab shook his head slightly and chuckled. Well, this could certainly be used to his advantage. Of course, he'd have to wait until the sun rose and Tansy woke up, but if anything, he was patient.

            Tansy woke and stretched before rolling out of bed slowly. She stood and glanced around at her room to make sure everything was neat and tidy and as when she went to bed. She yawned and quickly changed before opening her door.

            Suddenly, something dropped from above her door and banged her in the nose. She pulled away, rubbing her nose, and looked up to see a bouquet of flowers hanging from above her door. She looked up as she heard a chuckle from further into the hall. She peered around the flowers, moving them irritably out of the way, and spotted Rahab standing in the shadows.

            "I know you said we weren't allowed up on the third floor," he began, "but I thought I might inform you of your sister's plan now." He indicated the flowers near her head. Tansy sighed.

            "What is my sister doing now, and why the hell are these here?!"

            "Your sister has apparently teamed up with my eldest brother Raziel to try and, what was the saying?, fix us up. They placed the flowers there in my name earlier this morning."

            Tansy swore to herself quietly, then breathed in deeply, attempting to get a grip on her annoyance. Rahab spoke up as her breathing slowed.

            "It seems also that you have a rule on supernatural guests that we were not aware of, so I felt that it was quite time to tell you. You mustn't be too angry with your sister; she found out only yesterday, but you should know. My family are all vampires."

            Her sister… had invited… _vampires_ to their house?! Tansy let out a noise of rage as the anger and fear built up in her body. Vampires, bloody VAMPIRES. Her eyes rolled up into the back of her head and for a short time, her brain decided it was about time to take a break from reality.

            Tansy roused to a gentle, but incessant voice. She opened her eyes and peered blearily at Rahab. She was on her back on the ground, and he was apparently holding her head up from hitting the ground.

            "If you'll excuse me," she stated, her voice gritty, "I have to go annihilate my sister."

            She pushed herself up away from Rahab and walked stiffly toward the stairs to the second floor. She sped to a power walk when she hit the second floor, and by the time she was nearing the stairs to the first floor, she was running full speed, the look of a woman possessed on her face.

            "KY!" she bellowed into the still air. From downstairs, Ky's eyes widened and she stood, looking up worriedly.

            Tansy's dead-run was cut off suddenly, as she found a large arm wrapped loosely about her waist, keeping her from going anywhere. She glared back and up to see the golden eyes and the long white hair of Kain.

            "I do realize this is none of my business," he purred softly. Tansy struggled against his grip.

            "Fine! Lemme go kill her!"

            Kain's grip tightened and she stopped struggling and turned back to look up at him. He smiled malevolently down at her.

            "You know, turnabout is fair play…"

            She ceased moving and met his gaze.

            "What do you mean?"

            Seeing her off her warpath, he released her and indicated for her to follow him. Curious, and burning with the desire to get back at Ky, she followed.


	5. Divine Intervention

*chibi Griz is hitting chibi DS over the head with a large mallet reprimanding her for taking so long in updating and leaving all the poor readers at a cliffhanger. Chibi DS has little anime waterfall tears coming out of her eyes as she's repeating over and over again, "I'm sorry!" in a little chibi whiny voice.

Suddenly, chibi folders of TR/SR, BO2/TR, and Shay'Telnira's story all mob and jump on chibi DS while chibi Griz looks on with a sweatdrop over her head. Chibi Griz says: "Oh boy…"*

            "Hey Ky, you know how I have to go out for my practice today?" Tansy asked. Ky looked up at her sister from stuffing a bagel in her mouth. Ky swallowed and nodded.

            "Yeah, what about it?"

            "You don't have work today, do you?"

            Ky looked at her sister worriedly a moment, then shook her head, saying, "No, I don't. Why?"

            "When I get home, would you be willing to help me with lines?"

            Ky smiled widely and nodded. "Of course, Tans. You know you only have to ask. When and where?"

            "Later tonight, about eight or so. I don't want to do it immediately when I get home so I can get cleaned up and everything. I'll meet you in the gazebo, kay?"

            "All right. Have fun at your rehearsal!"

            "Oh, I will," Tansy smiled maliciously to herself and raced out the door. She was very much looking forward to eight o'clock that night.

            In the meantime, Kain waited patiently as his sons settled down for the day to rest or lounge about. He let one eye slit open when he heard Raziel walk by.

            "Raziel."

            The eldest turned his head and went to his creator, kneeling before him.

            "Yes, my Lord?"

            "If I were you, I would avoid going outside to the garden's gazebo at about eight tonight. I noticed that Kyviana left Dumah a note for a rendezvous then."

            As he spoke, the vampire lord activated his gift of Charm and impressed just a slight bit on his first-born's mind, implanting a tiny seed of jealousy. Kain watched as one of the corners of Raziel's eye twitched slightly at the thought of Ky meeting Dumah, but other than that, his face stayed a perfectly sculpted marble statue.

            "Yes, my Lord." He nodded once and turned away, his feet clicking on the polished floor. Kain smirked triumphantly. He knew his children very well. Turel appeared next to him and bowed his head slightly.

            "What was that about, my Lord?"

            "Nothing of importance, Turel. Now, tell me. What have you learned about this world?"

            "Well, they have these quite fascinating contraptions called microwaves . . ."

            Tansy sighed happily, seeing her home for the summer rise in front of her. She had just had a wonderful day. Ky's impending punishment let her feet rise and she hadn't messed up once in rehearsal. Everyone else had been generically good, and the feeling among the dancers was a good one. Everybody was hyped up for the coming performance. By the time Tansy got home, she was almost literally dancing on a cloud. She headed into the house, pausing to spin as she shut the door, and quickly dashed up the stairs to the second floor, laughing at herself and not caring.

            As she headed for the third story's stairs, she met Turel coming down the hall. She laughed giddily.

            "Whee! Everything's coming up roses!" She abruptly hugged Turel, leaving the vampire staring down at her as she greeted, "Hi!" She moved past him happily and ran up to her room. Turel walked back to his brothers at the den's table, blinking slowly.

            "You look like you just saw a Sarafan's ghost," Dumah remarked.

            "She— Tansy just _hugged_ me." He pointed vaguely off toward the third floor's stairs, a surprised look still on his face. "She doesn't like any of us, but she just gave me a hug!"

            Tansy, in the meantime, had grabbed her diary on the way up, and quickly snatched her green pen off her nightstand. 

            _"Dear Diary,_

_            I lied. Zephon's brother Rahab is most definitely NOT a psycho killer. He's far too smart and friendly for that… although he hasn't got anything on Issy! I'll admit I like him MUCH more than Zephon._

_            Did I mention that Ky thought she could hook me up with him? Luckily for me, Rahab told me about the situation, and I've turned the tables on Ky. Couldn't have done it without Kain… who is actually pretty decent as far as potential psycho killers go._

_            It also seems that Ky broke the big 'no supernatural entities rule' as Rahab, his father, and his siblings, are vampires. VAMPIRES, of all things! For all we know, those awful people who want to come and get us sent them! Although… I don't sense the aura that those demons have around the vampires…_

_            And to be honest, Ky really had no idea that they were vampires, so I should cut her a little slack…_

_            Bah, can't write anymore, so I'll just send you back to your hidey-hole."_

Tansy sneaked back downstairs to hide the diary. She bumped into Kain on her way to the bookcase.

            "How's the plan going?" she asked him casually.

            "Oh, it's working out quite nicely," Kain replied with a slightly evil smirk. He caught sight of the book disguised as a Harry Potter novel.

            "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? What's this, Tansy?"

            "Oh, nothing, just a book I finished reading."

            "Oh really?" There was a glint of wicked amusement in Kain's eyes. "May I read it, as you're finished?"

            "Uh…" Tansy had no idea how she was going to get out of this situation, and clutched the diary closer to her chest.

            "It's really something personal, isn't it?" Kain inquired when he noticed her gesture.

            There was no escaping the situation now.

            "It is," Tansy admitted with a sigh. "To be honest with you, it's my diary."

            "May I still read it?"

            "You wouldn't want to!" Tansy said firmly. "It's just the senseless drivel of a teenage girl who would still be mortified if her sister found it." Kain still looked disbelieving. "Here, Kain, I'll even read some of it for you!" She made a big show of clearing her throat as she opened the diary.

            "A-hem. Dear Diary," she read. "Today I was staying late for drama class when I ran into Justin! He was so handsome in his basketball uniform… with his chestnut hair thrown about in all directions and a towel about his neck… and he actually said 'Hi!' to me, Diary! Can you imagine that, him even so much as talking to lowly me?"

            "You're making that up," Kain said dryly.

            "I am not! Here," Tansy said, turning to a different part of the diary, "I'll read more!"  

            "That's entirely un—" Kain didn't finish, as Tansy read to him about Israfel's superiority to mortal men.  She also read how she planned to elope with the angel.

            "I don't believe you," Kain said simply. Tansy thrust the diary under his nose. The words written about Israfel were exactly as Tansy had read them.

            "See, I told you!" Tansy laughed, taking the diary away and shelving it. "Not worth reading!"

            "Not at all…" Kain agreed, before walking away to find something to do that would be less painful than reading Tansy's constant rambling about Israfel. The vampire did have to question her constant reference to an angel, however, and after the little escapade with the demon the day before, it might not be entirely unreasonable that these girls met with angels on a regular basis. And if that were true, then it would seem that there is much more to these children then they've been admitting to…

            Eight o'clock rolled around, and Ky leaned against the wall of the gazebo irritably. Her sister was usually quite prompt, and Ky was getting annoyed with waiting. Inside, Kain called Dumah to his presence.

            "The girl is waiting in the gazebo outside," he stated simply, studying his claws uninterestedly. "You may feel free to kill her now."

            A cruel smile ran across the vampire's lips. "Thank you, my Lord." He turned and quickly headed out. Kain teleported upstairs to a balcony where Tansy already sat, waiting. He sat down and picked up a teacup, the contents of which were a dark red of color. Tansy already had her popcorn ready.

            "Everything good?" she inquired.

            "The catalyst for it all is heading out," he responded amusedly. "It was almost too easy to get Kyviana out there. Why is that?"

            "Oh, because I never use turnabout to get back at Ky," Tansy responded. "I usually just give her extra chores to do. She won't think I had a hand in this until it's too late."

            "Good evening, demon-slayer," a deep voice rumbled throatily from the gazebo entrance. Ky looked up in surprise to see Dumah striding in, scowling like a demon ready to kill. Ky's eyes widened. In a lightning fast move, the vampire lord had slammed both of his claws against her shoulders, pinning her back to the wall. He leaned close and smiled malevolently.

            "Let her go," a voice grated. Both Ky and Dumah turned to see Raziel stalking into the gazebo. The eldest had stepped in, seeing Dumah's face dangerously close to Ky's. A part of Ky's brain that was still rational and not confused to all high hell mentioned to the rest of her mind that the gazebo looked much smaller with two vampire lords in it.

            "And why would you care about this little one, brother?" Dumah demanded.

            "Let her go," he repeated. "She is not yours."

            Both girl and vampire were blinking at the eldest in confusion. Ky was wondering what the hell was going on, while Dumah hadn't been aware that he had considered Ky his. He had just been here to kill her.

            "Raziel, what are you babbling about?"

            The first born grabbed Dumah's hands and pulled them away from Ky. Ky gratefully relearned how to breathe.

            "She is mine."

            Ky abruptly stared up at the eldest in surprise, her mouth dropping open.

            "Wha—"

            "What?!" Dumah overrode her voice with his own in surprise. "Something about this girl must be overriding your sanity. Allow me to rid you of this problem."

            He grasped the blade and slid it out of its sheath in a smooth move. Ky decided that enough was enough, and it was time to make another strategic retreat. She dropped back off the waist-high railing of the gazebo and started running.

            She heard pounding feet behind her, and quickly glanced back. Dumah was racing after her, sword still in hand, and still intent on killing her. Behind him was Raziel, keeping pace with his younger brother. Ky turned her attention back to running and rolled her eyes. How in hell did she manage to get herself into these situations?

            Suddenly, laughter filtered through her perception and she glanced up to see on one of the second story balconies were Kain and Tansy, and her sister was laughing her ass off. Ky's eyes narrowed.

            'So,' she growled to herself mentally, 'you got the guts enough to try to get _me_ back?! Well, we'll see how well this turns out!'

            As she passed by the balcony, she bunched the muscles in her legs and hopped up onto the balcony railing, glaring down at its two occupants. Tansy stopped laughing, but she was still breathing heavily, and small tears were sneaking down her cheeks.

            "You do realize this means _war_," Ky hissed.

            She twitched suddenly to the side, and a sword slammed into the wall, inches from where her head had been a moment before. She looked down at Dumah as he swore, then turned his attention to Raziel to keep him from beheading his younger brother.

            "A bit close, hun!" Ky shouted down.

            "It would have been closer," Dumah's voice filtered up to her, "and maybe _through_ your head if you hadn't moved!"

            Seeing her sister distracted, Tansy suddenly darted forward and shoved her sister off the railing.

            "Woah!"

            There was a soft thump from below as Ky landed on the ground ungracefully, and Tansy went back to laughing. 

            "So," she asked Kain as Ky ran back into the house, "you gonna take out that jealousy you implanted in Raziel's head?"

            "Mmm… no," Kain answered. Tansy stared at him in shock.

            "Well, why not?"

            "Well," Kain said with a wicked smirk, "why should I?"

            Tansy gaped at the vampire lord before answering with a meek, "Because you're nice?" This time it was Kain's turn to stare. Before he said anything else, he laughed his evil little laugh.

            "Okay," Tansy muttered, "you're not a nice guy.  I stand corrected."

            "Tansy, dear, how_ever _did you come to the conclusion that I was?"

            "Blind faith in my crummy intuition," Tansy replied, earning herself another laugh from Kain. 

            "Well, child," Kain laughed, "what did you think when I offered to help you punish your sister? Doesn't seem very fatherly and loving to you, does it?"

            It was Tansy's turn to laugh. Oh, if only he knew her father . . .

            "You really should meet my father," Tansy giggled. "I bet you'd get along famously!"

            "Explain to me who this enigmatic 'father' is," Kain ordered, looking Tansy right in the eye. Tansy winced away from his stare, but recovered.

            "He's our father!" she chirped. "You know, the other half of our genes?"

            Kain glared at her. "Don't get smart with me," he snapped. "I am aware that he is the other half of your genes. But when Kyviana was repeating your house rules on supernaturals, the only exceptions to it were, as I believe she put it, 'Daddy' and 'Issy'."

            "Er… Dad's a medium!"

            "A… medium?" Kain repeated, with an eyebrow raised.

            "Yeah!" Tansy affirmed. "A medium. He sees dead people. And he talks to dead people!"

            "Is he where you get your powers from?" Kain continued on.

            "What powers?" Tansy asked innocently.

            "Well, I suppose we haven't seen many from you, but Kyviana seems to be quite the demon-slayer. And you two apparently have angels checking up on you from time to time. That must denote some special ability."

            "Oh," Tansy stated, "_THOSE _abilities. Yeah, you could say we get those from him."

            "I could say?" Kain inquired, raising his eyebrow even higher. "And how might I not say?"

            Tansy began praying silently for divine intervention.

            "Well?" Kain pressed on. Suddenly, the door to the balcony opened.

            "Are you all right, Tansy?" a gentle voice inquired. Kain and Tansy both turned around slowly. Standing in the doorway was a tall young man who was built like a gymnast. He had wavy golden hair that fell to the small of his back and gentle, wise gray eyes. The young man was clad in a pair of khakis and a short-sleeved white button-down shirt. 

            "Issy?" Tansy whispered, before dashing to him and giving him a bear hug. Or, at least, trying to give him a bear hug.

            "Is this Israfel?" Kain asked coolly. Tansy nodded and led the angel back inside.

            "I need your help," she told him as they walked back indoors. "I can't seem to grasp my character during her singing parts. You understand, right?"

            "Isn't the whole show sung through?" Israfel inquired wryly.

            "Well, yeah, but I just can't get in character for my first number . . ."

            "Ah," the angel murmured. "We'll see what we can do."

            They walked arm-in-arm to a quiet room on the second floor, unaware that Zephon had caught sight of them and was following them. They closed the door, leaving Zephon alone outside. He pressed his ear to the door to listen.

            "Like this?" he heard Tansy's voice ask.

            "No, no," Israfel's voice responded. "Like _this._"

            "Better?" Tansy again.

            "Ham up on your limp a little bit… there we go…"

            Zephon inhaled sharply. What was going on in there? He pulled his ear away from the door.

            "What does he have that I don't?" he muttered.

            "A nice baritone voice?" Ky's voice piped up from behind. Zephon squeaked and turned sharply around. "Don't do that!" he snapped.

            "What's going on in there?" Ky asked, gesturing toward the door. "And how come you're eavesdropping on the occupants?"

            "Tansy and some… some _MAN _went in there!" Zephon spat. "And I don't know what they're doing!"

            "And, let me guess, it's bothering you?"

            "Exactly!" Zephon growled before putting his ear back to the door. He need not have bothered, though, because a second later Israfel's voice bellowed, "Belt! _BELT!"_

It resounded throughout the hallway, and Zephon turned to face Ky, looking pale.

            "I… that's… why are you laughing at me?"

            "Because!" Ky managed to say through her laughter. "They're practicing music in there! Using all kinds of musical language!" Catching Zephon's confused look, she tried to clarify with, "They aren't doing any perverse things in there! They're singing!"

            A moment later, Tansy's clear voice rang out, nearly as loud as Israfel's. She sang a few bars of a rather melancholy song.

            "See?" Ky pointed at the door. "They're not doing anything!"

            Zephon was too overjoyed to say another word. He whooped and dashed away, sing-songing, "She's not doing perverse things! She's not doing perverse things!" all the way down the hall as he went. Ky stared at him in bewilderment.

            "He's certainly thrilled… what a strange little man…"

            At that moment, Tansy and Israfel stepped out of the room.

            "Oh, hello Ky," Israfel said warmly. Ky smiled superficially up at him.

            "Hi, Issy!" she greeted him.

            "Uh, why were you here, Ky?" Tansy asked her twin.

            "Oh, I was just passing by," Ky lied easily. "Your singing has really improved!"

            "Really?" Tansy squeaked. Ky nodded, and asked what Israfel was here for.

            "Well, I was due for another check-in tomorrow anyway, but your sister begged for some divine intervention, so I thought I'd drop by. By the way," he queried Tansy, "why DID you call me in?"

            "Well, I was up on the balcony with Kain, as you know," Tansy started. Ky cut her off.

            "And you pushed me off!"

            "You pushed your sister off of a balcony?" Israfel gasped.

            "'Least it wasn't an old lady down an escalator!" Tansy inserted innocently, then she went on. "Anyway, Kain started asking some pretty sensitive questions about Dad, so I started asking for divine intervention, and Issy just… showed up!"

            Israfel nodded to confirm the story. "They were going to send Uriel," he chuckled, "but I volunteered first."

            "Oh, good," Ky sighed. "Uriel's no fun. He just sits there and glares at me."

            "You haven't done anything to deserve it, have you?" Israfel inquired in his kindliest and 'I'm the caring father everyone loves' voice.

            "Of course not! I don't push random pedestrians out in the street!" Ky snapped, glaring at her twin.

            "It was self-defense!" Tansy retorted in a syrupy-sweet voice.

            "Oh, yeah, that poor old guy on his bike was really out to get you!"

            "He was probably a pedophile! I could sense it!"

            "And we all know how your intuition is," Ky snickered.

            "Well," Tansy countered, "your instinct isn't much better! For God's sake, you invited VAMPIRES to stay with us. VAMPIRES!"

            "Vampires?" Israfel questioned, but he was ignored.

            "It's better than killing off poor old men," Ky muttered. "And besides, they're cute."

            "That guy didn't die," Tansy protested. "He's still in the ICU… and those vampires are _NOT _cute!"

            "After four months! And yes, they are!"

            "No, they're not!"

            Israfel stared blankly at the girls. "Let me get this straight . . . Ky invited vampires into the house?"

            "I didn't know they were vampires at the time!" Ky responded.

            "Still," Israfel overruled gently, "the bad people have ways of attempting to retrieve people… perhaps they sent the vampires?"

            "I doubt that," Ky scoffed. "They'd never be stupid enough to blow their cover like they did. The boys were at the mall having fun and screwing around when a retrieval demon came after us. The bad people aren't that stupid."

            "'Sides," Tansy added, "I don't sense the aura the bad people have around them, and that's the one part of my intuition you can trust."

            Ky stared at her sister. "We're _DOOMED…_" she wailed in a mocking tone.  Israfel laughed softly.

            "I think," he murmured after a moment, "that I need to stay here and keep an eye on you two."  

            "Would you?" Tansy squealed. When he nodded, she hugged him tightly. Ky groaned.

            "Zephon is gonna have a fit…" 

*Chibi DS looks at readers with cute, teary eyes as she says, "I left you off at a cliffhanger again, didn't I?" Behind her, chibi Griz readies the mallet.*


	6. Revelatory Consequences

Ten minutes later, the brothers, Kain, the twins, and Israfel stood in the living room.

"Now, boys," Tansy began happily, "This is Israfel. He's an old family friend and he's going to be staying with us for a little while! I want you all to be extra super nice to him . . . or else."

"Or else what?" Turel asked meekly.

"You don't want to find out," Ky assured him. "Trust me, I know." She rubbed the top of her head, wincing.

Zephon stood in the corner glaring at Israfel and balling his fists. "How dare he," he muttered under his breath. "How dare he just come in here . . . oh! Just look at how she's hanging all over him! Rar . . ."

Turel sidled up to his younger brother. "Well, technically, she's not hanging all over him. And furthermore, little brother, observe the look in his eyes."

Zephon looked at the angel's face for a split second. "What about it?"

"He has _no idea _that Tansy's absolutely in love with him!" Turel crowed.

"Are you suggesting . . ." Zephon started, but Turel cut him off.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm just telling you that Israfel is blissfully oblivious."

"Always has been," another voice popped up on Zephon's other side. Both looked over to see Ky leaning against the wall. She continued.

"Tansy's been like this around him since I can remember. I still don't really know if it's actually love, but I doubt it. I think it's just one of those childhood crushes. He's an ideal for her, not really a love interest."

Both brothers appraised her silently.

"How do you know so much about love?" Turel finally inquired. Ky laughed.

"Tansy wasn't ever really much into dating people. I am. But really, when it comes down to it, it's the fact that Tansy belongs to the realm of the mind, of intellect. I belong to the realm of what's instinctual, and so love and desire fall under my genre."

She abruptly patted Zephon on the shoulder.

"Besides, I like you with Tansy better than Issy. Tansy's got a _real_ mean streak that would scare off angels that a vampire would find just lovely. She just manages to hide that mean side of hers very, very well."

Ky pushed away from the wall and headed out of the room before either brother could respond. Tansy turned after her.

"Where do you think you're going?!"

"I've heard this lecture before." Ky popped her head back in the room. "It's boring."

Kain sighed and teleported out of the room, and Ky indicated a hand toward where the master vampire had sat.

"See? Even he thinks it's boring."

Tansy gasped at the thought before retorting, "So what?! Listen!"

"Um . . . no."

"Fine then!" Tansy crossed her arms like the conversation was over as far as she was concerned. Ky walked out of the room, then leaned back in again.

"You know, Tans, it's almost ten o'clock . . ."

"Oh! Right . . ."

"Beddy-by time," Ky supplied at Tansy's blank expression.

"Gotcha! Hey, uh, guys, I'm heading to bed now."

Both girls walked out of the room, and Ky eyed her sister maliciously. When Tansy looked at her curiously, Ky grinned. Tansy returned it, then in an eye blink, both broke into a dead run for the stairs, racing one another. Ky slipped past her sister on the second flight and slammed the door shut at the top of the stairs. Tansy grinned, quickly headed down, and stopped at the bookshelf on the second floor. She glanced around cautiously, then grabbed her diary and headed back into her room. With a relieved sigh, she plopped down on her bed, grabbed her green pen, and began writing.

_ "Dear Diary,_

_ Good news! Issy's decided that he wants to stay with us for a little while . . . I suspect he's worried about the vampires . . . But oh well! He's here!_

_ Zephon seemed quite upset by his arrival. I'm wondering what his problem is. I don't like him, he knows I don't like him, so I don't see why he's so annoyed by Issy's arrival . . ._

_ Furthermore, Rahab seemed a little upset with the angel's arrival as well. Not as upset as Zephon, mind. I'll try my very best to figure out what Rahab's problem is. He's far too nice to be upset over something like Issy coming to visit._

_ I really hope Zephon doesn't try fighting Issy . . . he doesn't stand a chance."_

Tansy sighed, nibbling the edge of the pen, wondering what to write, when suddenly she felt something slam her in the back of the head. She dropped both pen and diary and turned to find Ky standing on the edge of her bed, a pillow clutched in hand, a very evil little smile on her face.

"C'mon, she who is dead to the world when she writes," Ky teased, "we haven't had a good pillow fight in a while."

Tansy grinned, baring her teeth.

"If you insist . . ."

She grabbed her pillow and in minutes, feathers were flying and happy squealing sounded out of Tansy's room.

Kain chuckled from the third floor hallway. The girls were completely occupied with their pillow fight, and Kain was certain that there was a library on the third floor that was probably full of the secrets the twins were keeping. He peered into the door directly across from him. A squeaky clean bathroom. He moved and gazed into the door to his left . . . and succeeded in finding Tansy's endless supply of feather dusters and mops. Kain eased down the hallway until he found another door, closer to Tansy's room.

He barely pulled the door open, and looked in. Bingo! A room with every wall lined with bookshelves except for the one with a window facing the backyard. The window was open a crack. He eased the door closed behind him and walked in. He noticed a table in the center of the room. There was a candle burning, which was not unusual to him . . . until he noticed that not only was the candle not dripping wax, but the flame was green. There was also a single feather on the table, white at first glance, but when Kain lifted it up, he found that it was tinged with a very light blue. It was also softer than anything earthly.

Kain set it back down and started looking through books. One shelf was filled with nothing but photographs of the twins as little girls. Tansy had light brown hair and Ky had purple hair. Kain couldn't tell if it was dyed or not, but it probably was.

He sifted through a scrapbook he'd found among the photo albums. It was full of letters, letters written to a woman named Candace from a man named Sariel. Most of them were ridiculously sappy love letters . . . but then he stumbled across an interesting one.

_"Candace,_

_ How's your pregnancy? Do you know whether you're having a boy or girl? I apologize for not being around, but with the war going on . . . I'd rather be with you, and I swear that I'm going to come back as soon as I can. I'm tired of this fighting . . ."_

"That's odd," Kain murmured softly. "There was no war on this world when this letter was written . . ." Then he chuckled. "It seems our little twins are love children." The flickering green light of the candle was barely visible from the corner of Kain's eye. It aggravated him, and brought on . . . rather unpleasant memories.

Without thinking, he snuffed the candle. In Tansy's room Ky dropped the pillow suddenly and gripped her chest as if in pain. Tansy eyed her worriedly.

"My candle," Ky managed out between her lips. She could feel her skeleton begin to groan as the bones started to shift and a sick snapping sound emerged from her back. Tansy, instantly understanding, grabbed Ky's hand, pulling her forcefully from the room toward the library as Ky's breathing became ragged and came in gasps. Another sickening crack sounded from her body.

Kain looked up hearing the pounding of feet and quickly set the book back on its shelf before pulling back and quickly masked himself with his Gifts. Tansy slammed the door open, pulling Ky in after her. Kain's eyebrow raised; Ky had a hand wrapped around her lower stomach as if in great physical pain, and her eyes were snapped shut tightly. Tansy left Ky to lean against the table and ran to the candle he had put out. She grabbed it and quickly came back, setting it before Ky. Ky brought one of her hands up to her mouth and Kain watched as she placed long fangs down against it, tearing the skin without hesitation. She held her hand over the candle, and her onyx black blood poured out of the wound, covering the candle in the black viscous liquid. As soon as the blood touched it, the green flame burst into the life, rising up and covering her entire hand in it. After a moment, it depleted back to a small flame, and Ky collapsed onto the floor, leaning her head against the table leg. She breathed a shaky sigh of relief. Tansy carefully picked up the candle and moved it to its post again.

"How did this happen?" she inquired softly, almost to the candle. Ky shook her head from where she sat.

"I dunno." She breathed deeply before continuing, "You and I both know that candle can't be blown out by normal means."

Suddenly, Israfel appeared in the doorway.

"What's wrong, girls? I sensed your emotions from down the hall."

"Someone put out Ky's candle," Tansy stated monotonously. Israfel's eyes widened. He kneeled where Ky was sitting on the floor.

"Are you all right, little one?"

"Yeah," she answered, her breath coming out shaky. "I just think I'm going to sit on the floor a few more minutes."

There was a slight crack followed by a sucking sound, and Ky's hand went to her mouth with a surprised noise of painful protest. After a moment, she dropped her hand.

"Fangs retreating?" Tansy asked. Ky nodded.

"You're lucky you don't have such things like teeth and spikes, Tans. They hurt."

"I'll bet."

Ky stood slowly, leaning heavily against the table. Tansy looked cautiously around the room, and Kain found himself thankful the girls weren't any older. Were they, they might actually be powerful enough to penetrate his Gift. His Gifts for hiding were not nearly as well used as his battle-oriented Gifts.

After a moment, Tansy returned to her sister's side and took some of the weight off her feet. She looked over at Israfel.

"Issy, would you grab the candle and the feather? I don't think they're safe to stay here anymore."

"Of course."

He took up the feather gently, treating it as if it was the prized weapon of another warrior, then picked up the candle with much the same reverence. He glanced around the room once, making sure it was empty, then back out, shutting the door. He followed the girls back to Ky's room.

Inside the room, Kain stepped out into the open, rubbing his chin in thought.

"I wonder what that girl is?" Kain murmured before teleporting out of the room.

* * *

The next morning, Tansy circled the dining room table, glaring at all seven men seated around it. Israfel leaned against the wall, eyes half-closed.

"One of you was up on the third floor. In the library . . ." Tansy growled, clutching her feather duster threateningly. "I don't know why you were up there, I don't know which of you was up there, but one of you was. I repeat that you are NOT allowed up there, and if any of you go up there again I'll be forced to do something unpleasant to you all."

Zephon raised his hand. "When you say 'unpleasant', what do you mean?"

Tansy snapped her head to the left and fixed Zephon with her coldest, cruelest glare. Israfel caught sight of the look on her face and shuddered. Even Zephon shifted nervously in his seat.

"If you go up there . . ." she snarled, "you'll find out."

"If I go in your room, will you do something unpleasant to me?" Zephon asked in a quieter voice. Tansy narrowed her eyes at him and nodded menacingly.

"All right!" Zephon cheered. "I'll go change and meet you up there!"

Tansy roared and grabbed the vampire by his shirt collar. "Clean up your mind, you dirtbag!" Her face was within inches of his. Zephon couldn't resist his urge to tempt fate. He quickly leaned toward Tansy and touched his lips to hers before darting away again. The pink-haired young woman was momentarily shocked by his action, but recovered quickly. She punched him in the jaw with enough force to knock him out of his chair and rushed toward him. Melchiah dove out of her way.

"Kain, she's gonna kill us all!" he squeaked, before hiding himself in the pantry. Tansy proceeded to kick Zephon in the head several times as she spouted various swear words. Israfel walked calmly over to the enraged girl and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"That's enough, Tansy dear."

Tansy stopped kicking the vampire and looked up at Israfel.

"But Issy, he . . . he . . ."

"I know, I know," the angel soothed. "And he had no right. But please, don't kick him anymore, he's hurt enough."

Tansy nodded and stepped away from Zephon. He sat up and looked around.

"That was painful . . ." he muttered dazedly. "But it was worth the suffering!"

Kain rolled his eyes and struck his son on the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. Raziel raised his hand.

"What?" Tansy growled.

"Where's Ky?"

"She . . . uh . . ." Tansy couldn't think of a reason to explain Ky's absence, but Israfel stepped forward.

"She has the flu," he said simply.

"May I see her?" Raziel inquired softly.

"Later," Tansy snapped with such finality in her voice that Raziel decided not to challenge her. She looked around the table and smiled, all of the anger in her face melting away.

"Today there's an open house at the theatre I work at. Anyone wanna come?"

Melchiah peeked out of the pantry.

"I will," he stated meekly. Israfel volunteered himself, and Turel and Rahab decided to go along.

"The rest of you will stay here, then," Tansy commented firmly. "Keep an eye on Zephon, keep yourselves out of trouble, and _STAY OFF OF THE THIRD FLOOR!!"_

She organized her posse and left. Dumah looked at Raziel, his father, and Zephon, who was sprawled on the floor.

"Are we really going to listen to her?" he asked, attempting to revive Zephon.

"No," Kain answered flat-out and stood, walking toward the third floor. Zephon sat up, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hey, where's Tansy?" he asked, looking around.

"She went to work," Dumah replied.

"Darn. I wanted to do that again! Hey, where's Kain?"

"Third floor."

"That means that Tansy's not home! I'm going up!" Zephon squealed, jumping up and dashing toward the staircase. Dumah and Raziel exchanged a glance.

"Hell," said the eldest, "I'm going up to see Ky."

"Eh, me too," Dumah agreed softly.

* * *

Zephon gleefully skipped around the third floor hallway on his way to Tansy's room, bumping into Raziel and Dumah. "Sorry!" he said happily.

"Why are YOU so happy?" Dumah muttered.

"'Cause I'm going to go in Tansy's room and make off with . . . er . . . an undergarment."

"Don't want to know," Raziel sighed. He opened the nearest door, which happened to be a bedroom, and peered in. It was unoccupied and squeaky clean, with a bed perfectly made. He couldn't even see dust motes in the air.

"Ah," he muttered. "Tansy's room." He looked around for his younger brother, and when he didn't see him, he shouted, "Zephon! I found it!"

The second youngest lieutenant came running.

"Oh. It is her room! Now, which do you think is her underwear drawer?"

"I don't know."

"Well," Zephon said excitedly, "help me find it!" Raziel shook his head and eased toward the door.

"That's all right, Zephon, I don't really want to be an accessory to underwear theft."

* * *

Meanwhile, Kain sifted through books in the third floor library. All he'd found were more photo albums, more sappy love letters, and the girls' birth certificates. There seemed to be absolutely nothing incriminating in there whatsoever, save the candle and the feather, which were no longer in the room. He looked toward a shelf to the far left and his eyes fell upon an old, leather-bound book. It seemed to have been neglected for years. Curious, he pulled it off of the shelf.

* * *

Raziel cautiously peered into the next room. Against one wall was a four-poster bed with drawn drapes. On the posts were beautiful sculpted dragons of medium size. There was also a fireplace on one wall, the only window was covered by heavy drapes, and every flat surface was covered with books and magical paraphernalia. On one table was a goblet surrounded by candles, and there was what looked suspiciously like a human skeleton. Aside from the candles and the fireplace, a globe shaped lamp on the wall lit the room.

"Ky?" he called out softly.

A groaned "What?" answered him.

"It's Raziel. I came to see how you are."

"C'mon in," Ky's voice replied.

Raziel walked toward the bed and opened the drapes before gasping in shock. Ky winced at the light. She was very pale and gaunt, a mere shadow of herself, with dark blue-purple circles under eyes. Her hair wisped around her face, and when Raziel touched her hand it chilled him, as a block of ice would have.

"Do you need anything?" he cooed. He hadn't noticed that Dumah had come in and was standing behind him.

"No . . . no . . ." Ky breathed, looking around the room. Her eyes fell on Dumah and widened. "Wait . . . get him out of here!"

Raziel turned around to see his brother behind him. He narrowed his eyes.

"Get out of here, Dumah! The last thing she needs is your attempts to kill her!"

"I have no desire to kill her," Dumah murmured.

"Oh, really?" Raziel growled.

"Yes! It's dishonorable to kill an opponent while they're ill or otherwise incapacitated!" Dumah responded with a note of annoyance in his voice.

* * *

Zephon, meanwhile, seemed to have found the underwear drawer just fine on his own. His next challenge was finding the right garment to take. He had organized Tansy's underwear into piles: one for bras, one for thongs, one for briefs, and one for anything else that didn't fall into the other categories. After sifting through the piles for about ten minutes, he finally saw one he could live with. It was a purple cotton thong. He quickly returned everything to its place and dashed down to his second floor room.

* * *

"Oh, and this is the ladies' dressing room," Tansy explained as she pointed to a doorway on her left side. Melchiah turned to go in.

"No, Melly," Turel said, grabbing his younger brother by the arm. "You can't go in there."

"Why?"

Everyone in Tansy's group turned and stared at the young vampire.

"You seriously don't know?" Tansy squeaked. Melchiah shook his head. Turel and Rahab glared at their brother for daring to ask such a stupid question. Israfel, meanwhile, seemed to be on the verge of laughter.

"Would you tell me, Tansy?" Melchiah pleaded.

"When you're older, Mel."

Tansy then led the group into a room adjoining the men's and women's dressing rooms. It was well lit with mirrors on the left and right walls.

"This is the make-up room."

"Do the men need make-up, too?" Turel asked innocently. Tansy eyed the vampire with amusement. The tone of his voice hinted that he knew the answer, but hoped he was wrong.

"Of course they do, Turel! Keeps the light from glaring off of your head. Now then, on to the sound booth, which should be of special interest to you, Issy . . ."

Nobody noticed the irritation in Rahab's face.

* * *

Kain had discovered that the old book was the journal of the twins' father. In it were detailed accounts of wars between demons and angels. Had he participated in these wars? Had angels and demons told him of these battles? Kain turned to the next page, fascinated by what he was reading, but before he could read the page, he heard a soft female voice calling out for Ky. He froze, head cocked, listening intently. It was not Tansy's voice that he heard.

Interested, he set down the old journal and peered out the door. A young woman with mousy brown hair clad in white robes walked down the hall. She seemed to have a white aura that brightened the dark hallway. He followed her down the hallway as swiftly and silently as he could. She peeked into one room on the far wall, swore quietly, and dashed into a broom closet at the end of the hall. A moment later she emerged, clad in garments from this world. She wore a beige knee-length skirt and a white shirt. The woman looked furtively around the hall before stepping into the room. Kain followed her into the doorway.

"I'll take over taking care of her from here, boys!" she chirped. "I'm sure you've done a good job, but I can help her from here!"

"I'm not leaving," Raziel growled at the woman.

"Nor am I!" Dumah declared. His hand flew to the hilt of his ever-present sword.

"Now, now," she scolded gently, "no need to get violent!" The young woman tossed her hair and took Ky's hand. "Now, dear," she cooed, "my name is Amihiel. And you, child, are going to get better under my care!"

Ky stared at the woman in shock.

"Why didn't they just send Raphael?" she groaned.

"Now, you know as well as I do that Raphael only comes down in extreme emergencies."

"This _IS _an emergency!"

Amihiel sighed. "Well, you're my charge, and I have to heal you, so we're going to be spending a lot of time together!"

Ky rolled over and sighed. This was already turning out to be a crappy week . . .

* * *

In Tansy's room, one of the books Zephon brushed passed wavered back and forth on its shelf, almost seeming to contemplate falling. It leaned back more to its place a moment, then jolted forward and fell off its shelf, flipping as it went down. It landed on the bed table beneath it with a loud explosion, slightly muffled by the large white feather that it had crushed . . .


	7. Wings of Descovery

"So, what do you think?" Tansy asked them all after she had finished leading them around backstage.

"Complex," Turel finally answered, looking around. "But very interesting."

"It is, but you'll find— Ah!" She reached up quickly to feel her ear, which had felt like an electric shock had run through it. Touching the skin, she could detect the skin shivering slightly. Then, another small, painless shock went through it and her fingers brushed soft feathers.

"What's wrong?" Rahab inquired worriedly, seeing her look.

"Um, nothing," she assured hastily. "Wait right here, would you? I just remembered something."

She swiftly darted down the hall and slammed the door open to the women's dressing room. A fast glance informed her that there was no one else in the room. She moved to the mirror and pushed her hair aside to see her ears had gone pointed, and the tips and outward sides had sprouted small, down-soft white feathers.

A sudden twinge in her back made her give out a small, surprised noise. She pulled off the white shirt she was wearing and leaned heavily against the table as a pair of huge white-feathered wings exploded from her back. She stared at herself in the mirror as her eyes started to swirl through colors, finally landing on a yellow-green to indicate her surprise. Tansy closed her eyes, fighting against her growing anger and fear. Not only did this mean someone was in the third floor, someone had been in her room and crushed the feather.

She cursed softly and glanced around for something to cover her body with. Now that her body had transformed fully and the feather was completely damaged, she could not channel the energy off into it. And she certainly couldn't wear her shirt with the wings.

Looking at the costume rack, she spotted a halter-top with an excess of hanging cloths that would cover the part of her body where her wings were mounted. She might be able to get by telling people they were a prop to a costume for a character she was trying out for. She quickly pulled it on and settled it about her wings. With one last check in the mirror to make sure it was all in place, she breathed deeply to regain her composure and walked back out into the hall, keeping her wings pressed tightly against her back.

As she headed back through the halls to find the boys, she heard a voice shout out behind her, "Tansy!" She turned back to see it was the director walking quickly toward her.

"I just heard you were out here and— Wow," he murmured softly, looking over the wings. He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Tansy, you are going to tell me where you find such life-like wings right now, aren't you?"

"Oh, these. Um… er…" Tansy glanced around furiously, trying to quickly figure out an answer. She silently wished Ky was there with her; the black-haired girl was better at lying than Tansy was.

"They're an old family heirloom," another voice interjected. Both Tansy and the director looked over to see Israfel walking toward them quickly. "They were carefully built with the most extremist of attentions and actual white feathers were used to make it look real. She was borrowing them from me to try them on."

"Ah, they are most beautiful," the director complimented. "I wish we could find some that looked that real. But in the meantime, Tansy, I was looking for you to make sure you felt you were ready for the performance."

Tansy bobbed her head up and down in an affirmative.

"Oh good. Well, then, I will leave you to your little group." He glanced over at the vampires who had walked over quietly, and his eyebrows knit together in concern. Apparently shaking himself out of it, he headed away. Tansy let out a sigh of relief, then felt Israfel touch one of the wings gently.

"What happened?"

"Someone must have crushed the feather, Issy." She grabbed the angel's hand. "We have to get home. Now!" Israfel nodded.

"Boys," he called to the vampires, "you've seen everything. It's time to go."

Rahab cast a glance at Tansy. "You're sure you're okay?"

Tansy nodded. "I'm fine, really, Rahab."

"But that look on your face, though…"

"It was nothing, Rahab! I can assure you of that." She took a hold of his hand and gestured for everyone to head to the car. Melchiah tapped Tansy on the shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Can I touch them?"

Tansy gaped at the little vampire. He was just like a small child. Israfel looked at her with slight amusement.

"Can he?" he asked with a chuckle. Tansy sighed deeply and nodded.

"Okay, Mel, you can touch them. Just don't pull any feathers."

Melchiah squeaked with surprise and gently stroked the top of her left wing with one finger. Tansy's wings twitched slightly, but if Melchiah noticed, he gave no sign. He did, however, comment on the softness of the feathers. Turel stood nearby, eyeing Tansy with some suspicion. Israfel had said that the wings were an old family heirloom. But where were the straps that indicated that the wings were false? There were no signs of straps at all, in fact, and the wings had twitched when Melchiah had touched them! Were the wings, then, real wings? Turel stroked his chin in thought.

"Kain will be most interested in this."

* * *

The instant Kain heard the car door slam he knew that he'd better get off of the third floor, and fast. He wondered where Dumah and Raziel were, but after a moment, decided he didn't care. Let them get in and out of their own trouble. He hastily replaced the book and teleported out of the room.

Tansy flung open the front door and stormed in. Zephon sat on the couch, reading The Hobbit.

"Oh, hello, Tansy," he greeted cheerfully.

"Were you on the third floor?" Tansy fumed.

"Now, why would I be on the third floor?" the second youngest lieutenant asked in a syrupy sweet voice. Tansy glared at him, and sighed.

"I'll get back to you on that…"

Zephon smiled widely and stuck his nose back into the book as Tansy stormed up the stairs to the third floor.

"Oh, by the way," he called as Tansy was halfway up the stairs, "nice wings!"

* * *

Tansy found Raziel and Dumah in Ky's room. There was also a strange woman there, tending to her. Tansy thought that the woman looked like a mousy secretary. She ignored the stranger and glared murderously at Raziel and Dumah.

"Were you in my room?" she growled in a slow, deliberate voice.

"No," Dumah stated. "I've no desire to go any place where I'd be putting my life on the line."

"What about you?" Tansy snarled at the eldest. Raziel shrugged and shook his head. The pink-haired woman turned on her heel and stormed out of the room. Amihiel looked from Ky, to the lieutenants, to the open door of Ky's room.

"What bit her ass?" the angel asked. Ky sighed, grabbed the angel by the arm, and whispered something in her ear.

"Oh, so THAT'S why."

* * *

Turel, meanwhile, was in search of Kain. He had many, many interesting things to report to the self-proclaimed ruler of Nosgoth.

"My Lord?" he called out softly as he walked down a second floor corridor. "My Lord?"

"What is it, Turel?" Kain called from behind a door that was somewhere in the middle of the hallway. Turel peered into the room that Kain had answered from. The lord vampire sat with his arms crossed. He appeared to be deep in thought.

"My Lord, I've discovered something interesting."

"What?"

"It's about one of the twins, my Lord."

"What about her?"

"Well," Turel began quickly, "as you know, Tansy took us to see her theatre today. She began behaving peculiarly toward the end of the tour. Rahab asked how she was, and after insisting, rather clumsily, that she was fine, dashed toward the women's dressing room."

"And?" Kain pressed.

"When she emerged, large, white-feathered wings adorned her back. She and that Israfel insisted that they were costume props. However, the wings looked incredibly realistic, and I noticed no signs of straps holding the wings in place. Furthermore, she gave Melchiah permission to touch them, and I could have sworn that the wings twitched."

"Are you suggesting, Turel," Kain inquired pleasantly, "that the wings on Tansy's back were real?"

"Yes, my Lord."

Kain leaned back in his seat and looked up at the ceiling. He was certain that Tansy would be suspicious if Turel, who barely talked to her, suddenly wanted to get to know her better. Tansy's diary probably held some kind of revelation, too. A plan formed in his head.

"Turel, kindly inform your brothers Zephon and Rahab that they are to get to know Tansy better. In the meantime, I'll think of how to procure the girl's diary."

"Yes, my Lord."

Turel quickly turned and headed out of the room, and related the news to Zephon, who was still sitting on the couch. Zephon grinned and nodded until Turel fixed a glare on him.

"This is not playtime, Zephon, this is a job from our Lord. Take it seriously."

Zephon's smile melted away to be replaced by a cold, predatory glare and he nodded once.

"I am aware of that, Master of the Smokestacks."

Turel growled as his younger sibling, but moved on to find Rahab standing in front of the second story's bookshelf. He repeated the orders to Rahab, and the fourth born nodded, accepting it.

"What are you looking for?" Turel finally inquired.

"Something of interest to read. I haven't quite decided where to start."

"Well," Turel murmured, rubbing his chin, "there were those two people talking about the Harry Potter series. I think the Sorcerer's Stone, the one that's right there, is the first one. Why don't you try that?"

"Sounds good," Rahab agreed, nodding. As he picked it up, Turel added, "And tell me what you think of it. I might be interested in reading it myself."

With his Lord's orders distributed, Turel could go back to studying the computer, so he turned and walked calmly away as Rahab flipped the book open to the first page. Strangely, the first page had nothing to do with a boy named Harry or magic of any sort. It was a written page that in laymen's terms, told Ky to stay away from the book and not read it because it wasn't any of her business. Eyebrows knitting together, Rahab flipped to the next page to discover it wasn't the story, but, rather, Tansy's diary. He closed it gently, pondering what to do next. He didn't want to read her diary because it was there, but he did understand his Lord's orders, and a diary was always a wonderful way to see inside someone's head. With a sigh, he headed to his room and started to read.

Tansy had apparently had it a long while, as it was over almost halfway full, and after a time of reading the young girl's thoughts, Rahab voted that it was late and he could always return to reading it later. About halfway through her writing, he closed the book and shut off the light.

* * *

Everyone as a whole was woken to the sound of a baritone male voice bellowing out loud enough to be heard across the property, "YOU IGNORANT, CARELESS LITTLE CELESTIAL!!!"

There was a rush as six young vampires raced up the stairs to the third floor, the eldest vampire teleported to the library and stood in the doorway, looking out into the main hallway, and Tansy jumped up out of bed and raced out of her bedroom door. Out in the main hallway was Israfel, golden energies pouring off his form in waves, a pair of ribbon wings fluttering in the air behind him in his intensity. Curled in a small ball in the corner near Ky's room was Amihiel. Amihiel uncurled slightly and looked up at him.

"But, Mr. Israfel, I thought I was doing the right thing…"

"Feeding Kyviana AngelTears is _anything_ but helping!"

"I didn't try to poison the poor dear, it just kind of happened!" Amihiel said in defense of herself.

"You do not feed AngelTears to _anything_ but an angel! As a journeywoman healer _you_ should know that!"

"I thought she was the half-angel one!" Amihiel protested.

"You incompetent, foolish angel! If you cannot even perceive the difference between the two twins' energies, how do you expect to EVER earn your wings?! All one of the demons would have to do is shapeshift into an angel's form and you'd heal him!"

"…" Amihiel bit her lip and sniffled.

"Rest assured, child, this is going to go on the report back home."

Amihiel was silent a moment, another sniffle escaping her, before she burst out, "I know I'm hopeless! Did you have to rub it in?"

Israfel sighed deeply. "You're not hopeless, angel, you just have a habit of being very…"

"Ditzy," Tansy put in. Israfel nodded. Amihiel bit down on her lip, sniffled again, and quickly stood, running to the end of the hall, opened the door, and dove into it, slamming the door shut behind her.

"Why did she go into the broom closet?" Tansy inquired amusedly.

"I have no idea." Israfel's energy condensed on his form and the wings disappeared.

"Why were you so angry, Issy?"

"Thinking that it would help Ky, Amihiel gave her a concoction made of AngelTears."

"Wait, isn't that the liquid that's…"

"Good for angels and bane to everything else?" Israfel finished for her. "That's the one."

"She did WHAAAT?!" Tansy shrieked. She darted passed Israfel and dove into Ky's room. She skidded to a stop at Ky's bed, seeing her sister was no longer pale, but now a sickly green color, somewhat resembling the demon from the mall's coloration. Her breathing was ragged and came in short bursts, and her eyes were tightly shut. Ky's body abruptly jerked upward by the chest, as if there was a string attached to her ribs that pulled up, and she let out a small scream before falling back to the bed. The sound drew the vampires' attentions, and they peeked in curiously. The movement of Ky had shifted her bedcovers to show a nightgown that exposed her sternum. Over it a pale white light had begun to glow. Israfel turned to Tansy.

"That light will slowly grow stronger and begin to encompass her body. Should it completely surround her body…" He trailed off into silence.

As Tansy stared down at her sister in horror, Israfel brought his hand together in front of his body and began concentrating. White energies played off between his hands, then dispersed in a small burst of light. He let his hands drop and looked at Tansy again. She turned to him.

"Issy, can we call in Raphael now?"

"I just did," he answered, smiling gently. Tansy stared at him a moment, eyes wide, then grabbed his face and kissed him passionately. After a few tense seconds, she released him and turned back to her sister. Israfel leaned heavily against the wall, blinking rapidly, trying to bring his mind back from its shocked state. Both Rahab and Zephon glared at the angel, and Zephon began plotting elaborate death traps. Rahab bit down on his tongue and shoved away his jealousy.

The fight over, the vampires began to disperse. Zephon grabbed Rahab and dragged him down the stairs into one of the vacant rooms.

"Come on, you're coming with me and you're going to help me plot the death of this angel."

"Why would I want part of that?" Rahab retorted, but allowed himself to be pulled aside.

"Bah, don't tell me that, Rahab. I've watched the way you look at Tansy, and by the Dark Gods, I'd rather have _you_ as competition than that angel."

Rahab looked warily around. "Zephon, this isn't a good idea."

"Of course it is, and you know you want him out of the way as much as I do!" "But…" Rahab sighed and gave up. Once Zephon had his mind made up to kill somebody, it was useless to argue with him. Although, Rahab did admit that it would be nice to have that angel out of the way for a little while… He shook his head and left the room. "Let me know what you come up with, okay Zephon?" Zephon, however, wasn't going to let his brother get out so easily. He leapt in front of the door. 

"You aren't going _anywhere_!" the second youngest hissed. "You allowed me to drag you in here, so I'm assuming you want some part of this!"

"When did I agree I'd help you kill a divine entity?" Rahab snapped. "I don't recall ever saying 'I'll help you!'"

Their argument was interrupted by the sound of a deeper, gentler male voice.

"Ah, Israfel," it said, "What appears to be the problem?"

"Oh, shit," Zephon moaned. "Another one!" Rahab rolled his eyes and shoved his brother away from the door.

"I'll go up and see what's going on," he told his younger brother hastily, dashing out of the door. Zephon remained behind.

"Tansy better not be kissing this one, too," he grumbled, glaring up at the ceiling.

Upstairs, Melchiah was trying to coax Amihiel out of the broom closet.

"Miss? There's someone named Raphael here to see you."

"Go away!" the voice on the other side of the closet sobbed. "Oh, I'll be joining the Fallen for sure this time!"

Raphael chuckled. He was not quite as tall as Israfel was, and his short black hair fell into his eyes.

"No, not the Fallen, child," he called to the closet. "You haven't done anything quite grievous enough to merit that punishment."

"Not this time!" Ami's voice replied.

"Ami, Ami," Raphael sighed. "Come out of there, dear. You know perfectly well that the absolute worst that can happen is that you just have to do more missions."

Ami peered out of the closet. "More missions for me to foul up?" she whimpered. There were still tears in her brown eyes.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll get one right," Raphael answered. "Just keep trying. Now, come out of there so we can see what exactly is wrong with Miss Kyviana."

"You're trusting her to help you?" Israfel asked, gaping at Raphael.

"Of course. She may be a little… absent-minded, but she's got her heart in the right place. Besides, she _is _one of my charges."

"Absent-minded is an understatement," the angel of music muttered.

"I'm still demoted, aren't I?" the young angel asked her superior.

"We'll see."

A minute later, Raphael's voice boomed throughout the house.

"Of all the asinine, stupid things to do! Child, you should never have left basic training!"

"I'm sorry, I really am…"

"I'm sure you are," the angel said in a gentler voice. "Unfortunately, I will have to demote you and get you into remedial aura sensing at once."

Ami emerged from the room a few minutes later.

"Where's Raphael?" Israfel inquired.

"Oh, he said he was better off doing the ritual alone," Ami answered.

"Wonder why?" Israfel muttered. Ami glared at the older angel, turned away, and crossed her arms.

"Just you wait, Mr. Israfel," she mumbled. "I'll show you all that I'm not a complete idiot!"

In the room, Raphael had just completed his healing ritual. He stood over Ky for a moment as the pale white light above her chest dispersed. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at the angel.

"Hello, Kyviana!" Raphael chirped. "How are you feeling?"

"I love you, Raphael!" Ky sighed, reached up and hugged the angel. Then she fainted.


End file.
